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MAROONER'S  ISLMD; 


OR, 


DR-  GORDON  IN  SEARCH  OF  HISlffllLDREN 


By  F.  K  GOULDING, 


AUTHOR  OF  "the  YOUNQ  MAROONERS." 


PHILADELPHIA: 

CLAXTON,  REMSEN  &  HAFFELFINGER. 

1869. 


Digitized  by  V^00QIC_ 


HARVARD 

lUNIVERSITY] 

LIBRARY 

OCT   8  1941 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Oongreas,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

CLAXTON,  RBMSBN  A  HAFFELFINGBR, 

in  the  Clerk's  OfBce  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  I 

Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania.  jl 


r^^t:^  J-  FAOAN  *   SON, 

^■^^     nXEBOTTPKBS,  PHILAD'A.    ^' 

^  Moon  Bko's,  Printers. 


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AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 


AROONER'S  ISLAND  has  been  pre- 
pared  as  an  independent  sequel  to  The 
Young  Marooners.  The  author  does 
not  approve  of  sequels ;  but  so  many 
and  so  urgent  were  the  requests  for  the  contin- 
uation of  his  former  story,  that  he  was  allowed 
no  option  in  the  case. 

The  plan  adopted  in  the  former  work,  of 
imbedding  in  an  interesting  narrative  as  much 
information  as  possible  of  a  permanently  ilBeful 
character,  has  been  adopted  also  in  this,  and 
has  been  more  fully  carried  out. 

Visitors  to  the  coast  of  Florida  will  probably 
bear  witness  to  the  life-likeness  of  the  scenes 
described.  Should,  any  of  them,  however,  look 
in  vain  for  the  beautiful  island  which  aftbrded 


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vi  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

80  pleasant  a  refage  to  the  heroes  and  heroines 
of  our  adventure,  they  are  requested  to  remem- 
ber that  extensive  land-sinkSj  caused,  probably, 
by  the  action  of  subterranean  currents,  are  not 
unusual  in  that  remarkable  country.  Indeed, 
the  sudden  disappearance,  in  this  way,  of  sev- 
eral acres  was  announced  in  the  newspapers 
while  Chap.  XXIV.  of  this  book  was  in  the 
process  of  publication.  It  is,  therefore,  not  to 
be  expected  that  all  the  places  existing  in  the 
year  1831  are  in  existence  now. 

To  the  kindly  hands  of  those  who  have  ex- 
pressed so  lively  an  interest  in  the  "Young 
Marooners,"  as  to  compel  the  hazards  of  a 
Sequel,  the  author  commits  the  present  work, 
with  the  hope,  that,  although  it  may  not  equal 
the  other  in  pathos,  it  may  not  be  behind  it  in 
utility. 


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GONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 
The  Cause  of  the  Search 18 

CHAPTER  n. 
Preparations  and  Delays 19 

CHAPTER  III. 
News  by  the  Cutter 28 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Cruise  Begun „ 88 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  First  Night  Ashore 46 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Scouting  and  Fishing — A  Proposition 64 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Simpson's  Story 67 

CHAPTER  VIIL 
Fishing  for  Sheepshead — A  Chase  by  Water 84 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Water!    Water! —Brackish  Water  Corrected  —  Salt  Water 
Conyerted  into  Fresh  —  Substitutes  for  Water  —  Modes  of 

Allaying  Thirst  —  Signs  for  Finding  Water 94 

Tii 


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Vlll  .  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Encampment — Owl-Hoots — A  Night  Scout — More*  Shoot- 
ing than  was  Bargained  For 106 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Fog  —  **  Qannet- Venison  "  —  Destroying  Rats — Fresh  Sup- 
ply of  Water  —  Man  Poisoned,  and  what  was  done  to  Re- 
lieve Him —  Bivouac — Island  Afire — Efforts — Losses  and 
Unwelcome  Visitors 118 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Detail  to  look  for  Water  again  —  The  Raccoon  —  Wildcat's 
Merry  Pranks  —  The  Captured  Squirrels  —  Habits  of  the 
Raccoon — News  from  the  Young  Maroon ers,  and  Possible 
News  of  Riley  and  Sam „182 

CHAPTER  XIII.    ' 

The  Emerald  Isle  and  its  Inhabitants  —  Attack  and  Defence 

—  Mosquitos  and  Gallinippers — Ingenious  Devices — Mos- 
quito Key  —  Plans  for  the  Day — Adieu  to  Mosquito  Key- 
Capture  of  Flying-Fish — Simple  Services — Worship  — 
What  is  It? 144 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Signs  of  a  Texan  Norther  —  Palmetto  Tent — Singular  Facts 
attending  Storms — Severe  Gale — Preparing  for  a  Gloomy 
March— Exploring  under  Difficulties  —  Narrow  Escape — 
<«HelpI  Murder!" 167 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Increase  of  the  Storm  —  Struggles  of  Mind  —  Dangerous 
Tide  ^- Alarm  for  the  Boat  —  Vain  Search  on  Stormy  Water 

—  What  was  seen  next  Morning  —  Despondency  —  Council 
of  War — Discussions  and  Resolves 170 


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CONTENTS.  ^    ix 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

KaTigating  by  Raft  —  Sail  or  Sea-Bird?  —  CouDoil  of  War, 
Second  —  An  Indian  Camp-Fire  —  Signs  of  Danger  — 
Daring  Intrusion ^..179 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Something  in  the  Bush  — ^  Plans  for  the  Night  —  A  Fire-Hunt 

—  Deer's  Eyes  by  Torchlight  —  Disappointment  and  Relief 

—  Indian  Device  —  Late  Supper  —  Embarkation  —  Poor 
Progress 192 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Life  on  the  Prairies  —  Waste  of  Life  —  Fire !  Fire !  —  Rush 
of  Buflfaloes  —  Rough  Riding 202 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Marching  —  Rain  —  Ambush  —  Detour,  Hiding  the  Trail  — 
Concealed  Encampment  —  Wily  Scout  —  ImproTised  Armor 
— Well-aimed  Shot  —  Dangerous  Passage  —  Blood  on  Both 
Sides — Chinnobee 212 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Extracting  a  Ball  from  a  Wound  —  News  of  the  Missing  One 
—  Indian  Revenge  —  Simple  Hand-Barrow  for  Carrying  a 
Wounded  Person  —  Confession  of  Crime  —  Prevalence  of  a 
Mother's  Teaching  —  Miserable  End  of  a  Lawless  Life...226 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Somassee  and  the  Canoes  —  Producing  Fire  without  Matches 
or  Tinder  —  Wild  Vegetables  —  Indian  Mode  of  Cooking 
an  Opossum  —  Return  to  Tampa  —  Dr.  Gordon's  niness..237 


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X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

William  and  Judy — Wildcat  and  Somasaee — The  Gourd  and 
its  Contents  —  Compliment  and  Goodwill  —  Preparations 
for  Another  Tour  —  Returning  Strength  —  Preparing  to 
Burn  a  House  —  Smelling  out  a  Fire  —  Almost  Too  Late  — 
Passing  through  Smoke  —  Slow  Burning  Without  Air  — 
"  Pour  on  Water !  Fire !  Fire  !  "  —  Escape  from  Upper 
Window  — All  Right  at  Bellevue 261 

CHAPTER  XXni. 

Setting  Out  —  Judy's  Farewell  —  Manatee  Bay  —  Taking 
Passage  —  Fresh  Water  Spring  in  the  Ocean  —  Novel  Corn- 
Mill  —  Butter  Sausages  —  Water-Proof  Match-Boz  —  Sea- 
Sickness,  and  how  it  was  Mitigated  —  Sunday  Service  — 
Sailors  as  a  Class  —  Parting  Company 264 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Cape  Sable  —  Indian  Hunters  —  Dismal  Coast  —  Pleasant- 
Looking  Island  —  What  Dr.  Gordon  Found  —  What  Whee- 
ler Saw — Conjectures — "Living  like  Princes"  —  Fire 
Signal — Moccasin  Tracks — Almost  Found — Long  Tramp 
—  Stranded  Canoe  —  Wildcat  acts  out  of  Character  — 
Voyage  Resumed ..275 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Cheery  Return — Judy's  Welcome  —  Sad  Disappointment  — 
Fort  Brooke  —  Bad  News  —  Unexpected  Journey  —  Early 
Steamboats  on  the  St.  John's  River — Travellers'  Rules  and 
Travellers'  Fare  in  a  Wild  Country  —  Signs  of  a  Distant 
Steamboat — Negro  Songs  —  Getting  Aboard — Letters  and 
Plans — Mrs.  Gordon  —  Mrs.  Mcintosh  —  Abreast  of  Belle- 
vue—  The  Pilot  Boat  — Old  Torgah  —  Prepare  for  Another 
Tour 289 


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CONTENTS.  II 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Leaving  Port — The  Crew  —  Pancheta — Mahinlo  —  The  Fly- 
ing Signal  Again  —  Pilot  Danbar  and  the  Sea-Bird  —  Sig- 
nal by  Cannon  —  The  Ominous  Scud  —  Sudden  Gale  —  Omi- 
nous Sounds — Ominous  Silence — Dreadful  Discovery — 
Daylight  and  Deliverance 807 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Breakfast  Under  an  Orange-Tree  —  Marooners'  Home  —  The 
Marooners  Themselves — Preparing  to  Recover  the  Lost 
Boat — Ducks,  Fish,  etc.  —  Look  for  Boat — The  Stranded 
Vessel — Mysterious  Sign  —  Can  we  Launch  Her?  And 
How?  — Mechanical  Rule .' 328 

CHAPTER  XXVIIL 
Visit  to  the  Pirate  Wreck  — Night  Work 342 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Beautiful  Dawn  —  Lawyer's  Remark  —  How  do  we  Know 
there  is  a  God?  356 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Work  in  the  Marsh  —  Novel  Draught-Horse  —  Search  for 
Boat  Again  —  "Parbuckling"  —  Balky  Machinery  — 
"  Tired  Nature's  Sweet  Restorer  "  —  Unwelcome  Visitors 
— A  Stern  Chase — Indian  Yell  —  Successful  Work 367 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Consultation — Prepare  to  Move  —  Somebody  in  the  Marsh — 
Who  can  it  be?  — The  Tests -884 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Mahinlo  — Yaha-Lusty  —  The  White  Man's  Charm  —  Sleeping 
in  a  Tree 396 


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Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Wildcat  at  the  Prairie — Beconnoiiring  and  Deer  Voyage  — 
Joshua  Thigpen — Frank  and  the  Alligator — Telegraph- 
ing—  Sam  has  no  Use  for  Indians 404 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Good  Rule  About  Trouble—"  Doctor  Wildcat"  — New  Mast 
— Last  of  the  Pirate  Wreck  —  One  of  Sam's  Weaknesses — 
Trying  their  Vessel  —  Unexpected  Cannon  —  Harold's 
Distress  —  Stopping  a  Leak  in  a  Hurry — "Hoist  with 
his  own  Petard"  —  A  Little  Surgery  —  Close  of  the 
Week 421 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Sunday,  March  5  —  About  Working  on  Sabbath  —  Have 
Brutes  Souls  ?  —  Reasons  for  Believing  in  our  own  Immor- 
tality—  The  Wonderful  Spy-Glass  —  Signs  of  Danger  — 
Barricading ^ 486 

CHAPTER  XXXVL 
Indian  Wiles — Bloody  Intentions — Unexpected  Help 452 

CHAPTER  XXXVn. 
Harold's  Breastplate  —  Tiger-tail  —  Shot  in  the  Head  — 
Death -Wound  from  a  Button  —  Last  of  Yaha-Lusty  — 
Wildcat's  Good  Fortune  —  Mahinlo  and  his  Prayers  — 
Indian  Burials  —  Chinnobee  —  Return  to  Tampa  —  Con- 
clusion  471 


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MAROONER'S    ISLAND. 


CHAPTER  L 


THE  CA  USE  OF  THE  SEARCH. 


OON  after  sunrise,  on  the  morning  of 
October  26th,  1 830,  a  scene  of  wild  ex- 
citement occurred  upon  the  edge  of  a 
bluff  that  overlooked  the  pure  and  tran- 
quil waters  of  Tampa  Bay. 

A  gentleman,  thirty-five  or  forty  years  of  age, 
stood  for  a  moment  gazing  with  anguished  face 
over  that  beautiful  expanse  of  water,  then  fell 
upon  his  knees  and  wrung  his  hands  with  grief. 

A  few  steps  behind  him  stood  a  man  in  the 
garb  of  a  United  States  soldier,  holding  a  horse 
by  the  bridle,  and  apparently  awaiting  orders; 
and  close,  on  either  hand,  were  negroes,  who,  in 
eager  sympathy,  had  thrown  themselves  beside 
their  master,  and  were  mingling  their  sorrows 
with  his. 

2  la 


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14  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

Upon  the  surface  of  the  bay,  at  the  distance  of 
half  a  mile,  was  a  pleasure-boat,  containing  four 
persons,  passing  rapidly  towards  the  sea.  Without 
sails,  or  oars,  or  any  other  sign  of  a  propelling 
power,  it  moved  with  such  velocity  as  to  raise 
before  it  a  sheet  of  spray,  and  to  leave  a  train  of 
whitened  water  in  its  wake. 

The  kneeling  figure,  in  the  foreground,  was  Dr. 
Gordon,  a  gentleman  from  Georgia,  who  had  re- 
cently come  to  Tampa  to  prepare  a  winter  resi- 
dence for  his  invalid  wife.  The  persons  in  the 
boat  were  his  children  and  a  nephew,  the  son  of 
his  sister,  who  had  come  with  him  as  companions 
and  pupils  for  the  time. 

Five  minutes  before,  no  group  could  be  found 
on  earth  with  brighter  faces  or  more  hopeful 
hearts ;  now,  none  could  be  found  more  miserable. 
They  had  all  taken  their  seats  in  the  boat,  ready  to 
start  on  a  marooning  expedition  to  one  of  the 
wooded  keys  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bay,  when  the 
Doctor  was  called  by  a  sudden  messenger  to  his 
house,  and  in  the  interval  the  anchor  of  the  boat 
had  been  tripped  by  a  Devil-Fish,  and  the  young 
voyagers  were  dragged  seawards  under  the  grasp 
of  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  most  dreaded 
monsters  of  the  deep.* 

*  It  is  neither  unusual  nor  unnatural  for  those  who  are 
strangers  to  sea-board  life  to  regard  all  stories  told  of  the 
Deyil-Fish  as  so  many  draughts  upon  the  imagination.     But 


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MAROONER^S  ISLAND  15 

Overwhelmed,  and  for  a  moment  paralyzed  by 
this  accident,  Dr.  Grordon  was  nevertheless  too 
much  of  a  man  to  remain  long  inactive.  Spring- 
ing to  his  feet,  and  issuing  a  few  rapid  orders  to 
his  servants,  which  sent  them  running  in  different 
directions,  he  turned  to  the  soldier,  who  had  been 
a  silent  though  not  unmoved  spectator  of  the 
scene,  and  said  to  him  : 

"  Sergeant,  you  have  seen  what  has  happened. 
Hurry  back  to  Fort  Brooke.  Tell  your  com- 
mandant of  my  misfortune,  and  ask  him  from  me 
to  send  without  delay  a  boat  and  boat's  crew  to  go 
in  search  of  my  children.  I  know  he  will  do 
what  he  can,  for  he  is  not  only  a  man  of  human- 
ity, but  he  is  my  relative  and  friend.  Lay  your 
horse  to  the  ground,  good  soldier;  I  will  be 
responsible  for  damages.^' 

"  Had  you  not  better  give  me  a  line  in  writ- 
ing ?''  suggesteii  the  soldier. 

Dr.  Gordon  drew  from  his  pocket  a  book,  and 
pencilled  the  following  words  upon  a  blank  leaf, 
which  he  tore  out,  folded,  and  gave  to  the  soldier. 
The  language  was  informal,  but  to  the  point : 

that  the  uncouth  monster  known  as  Devil-Fish  has  a  real 
existence,  can  be  attested  by  the  author  himself,  who  has 
seen  it  with  his  own  eyes;  and  that  it  is  in  the  habit  of 
playing  just  such  wild  pranks  as  those  alluded  to  in  the 
story,  is  too  well  known  to  be  doubted  by  any  who  frequent 
the  waters  where  they  abound. 


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16  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"  Bellevue,  Tampa,  Florida. 
"  For  mercy's  sake,  send  me  a  boat  with  hands,  to 
be  absent  for  several  days.    The  bearer  of  this  will 
tell  you  the  dreadful  reason,  and  will  give  you  all 
necessary  information. 

"  Yours,  Charles  Gordon,  M.  D. 

"  To  Major  Burke,  Commandant  at  Fort  Brooke. 
"  By  Sergeant  Tomkins" 

The  soldier,  with  a  respectful  touch  of  his  cap, 
received  the  paper,  mounted  his  horse,  and  dashed 
away  at  full  speed  along  the  hard,  smooth  beach, 
in  the  direction  of  Fort  Brooke,  which  was  dis- 
tantly visible  at  the  head  of  the  Bay. 

Dr.  Gordon  then  turned  to  his  negroes,  who  by 
this  time  had  come  to  report  progress  in  obedience 
to  his  orders.  The  only  boat  at  his  command, 
besides  the  one  to  be  expected  from  Fort  Brooke, 
was  a  canoe  lying  at  the  landing,  badly  damaged 
by  an  accident.  This  he  determined  to  refit  in  all 
haste,  and  to  dispatch  in  pursuit  of  his  children. 
Stimulating  and  systematizing  the  labors  of  his 
people,  who  were  as  willing  as  they  were  un- 
skilled, he  had  the  pleasure,  in  less  than  two 
hours,  of  pronouncing  the  boat  seaworthy.  Then 
calling  his  body-servant,  William,  a  black  quad- 
roon reared  in  the  family,  also  his  black-skinned 
carpenter,  Sam,  who,  though  many  years  older 
than  the  other,  was  far  less  intelligent,  he  gave 
them  his  instructions. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  17 

"  William/*  said  he,  **  I  put  you  in  charge  of 
this  boat;  and,  Sam,  do  you  also  listen  well  to 
what  I  say.  Make  for  the  island  at  the  mouth 
of  the  bay,  which  you  can  see  from  this  place, 
marked  by  a  clump  of  tall  palmettosi  Beyond 
that  clump  you  will  find  the  house  of  Riley,  the 
Indian,  whom  you  know.  Gro  first  to  him.  Tell 
him  what  has  happened,  and  say  to  him  from  me 
that  if  he  will  find  and  bring  back  my  children, 
he  may  ask  for  anything  in  my  power  to  give. 
If  he  needs  either  of  you  to  help  him,  do  you, 
Sam,  go ;  and  do  you,  William,  return,  to  go,  if 
necessary,  with  me.  Should  Riley  not  be  at  home, 
you  may  leave  word  with  his  wife,  while  you 
yourselves  push  on  as  far  as  you  judge  best,  to 
learn  what  has  become  of  the  children.  Another 
thing:  if  you  hear  anything  about  them  from 
Riley  or  his  wife,  make  a  big  smoke  upon  the 
beach.  I  will  watch  for  it.  And  if  you  learn 
anything  good,  make  two  smokes — one  on  each 
side  of  the  palmetto  grove.  And  now,  my  good 
fellows,  good-bye,  and  God  bless  you ! "  • 

He  extended  to  each  of  them  a  hand,  which 
they  most  reverently  took,  saying,  — 

"  Mossa,  ef  de  Lord  help  us,  we  '11  bring  dem 
chillun  back." 

Tears  flowed  on  both  sides,  and  for  a  moment 
or  two  no  one  could  say  a  word.  But  Dr.  Gordon, 
2*  B 


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18  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

with  a  strong  effort,  commanded  his  voice  and 
said, — 

"Boys,  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  and  Riley 
will,  of  yaur  own  hearts,  do  for  me  all  that  you 
can.  But  remember  now,  as  you  go  off,  that  1 
make  to  you  the  same  promise  I  make  to  Riley. 
Bring  back  ray  children,  and  you  may  ask  me  for 
whatever  you  will.'' 

With  these  words,  Sam  looked  into  his  master's 
face,  and,  with  great  earnestness,  replied,  — 

"Mossa,  we  don't  want  nutten,  but  to  bring 
dem  chillun  back.  We  got  ebery  ting  else 
a'ready." 

Dr.  Gordon  kindly  shook  them  off,  and  saw 
them  to  the  boat,  in  which  they  were  soon  skim- 
ming over  the  water,  where,  in  a  very  short  time, 
they  became  reduced  to  a  speck  in  the  distance. 
He  then  returned  to  his  now  desolate  home,  pon- 
dering upon  the  change  which  one  short  hour  had 
wrought,  and  whispering  to  himself,  — 

"It  is  as  true  of  our  happiness  as  it  is  of  our  per- 
sons, that  ^  In  the  midst  of  life  we  are  in  death,' " 


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CHAPTER    II. 


PREPARATIONS  AND  DELAYS, 


HEN  Dr.  Gordon  returned  from  the 
bluflF  to  the  house,  his  first  effort  was  to 
devise  for  himself  some  employment  of 
mind  as  engrossing  as  possible.  It  was 
no  part  of  his  faith  or  practice  to  mope  or  mourn 
needlessly  over  misfortune.  He  believed  that  he 
could  best  serve  his  God,  his  loved  ones,  and  him- 
self, by  cultivating  at  all  times  and  in  all  things  a 
cheerful  spirit.  True,  he  could  not  always  be  cheer- 
ful, sometimes  by  reason  of  sickness,  and  some- 
times (as  now)  by  the  pressure  of  misfortune ;  but 
he  could  always  tr^y  to  be  so,  and  in  the  effort  he 
would  be  apt  to  find  a  refuge  from  disturbing 
thought. 

Alas  for  him,  however,  on  the  present  occasion 
his  preparations  for  leaving  home  with  his  bright- 
faced  children  on  their  proposed  maroon  of  a  week, 
had  been  so  complete  that  it  was  not  easy  to  devise 
anything  more  that  was  suitable  to   his  circum- 

19 


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20  MAROONER'8  ISLAND. 

stances.  All  that  he  could  do  was  this :  he  called 
before  him  his  two  remaining  servants,  Judy  and 
Peter.  Judy  was  his  cook.  Her  skin  was  almost 
as  black  as  the  tea-kettle  and  the  pots  that  she  so 
skilfully  used,  and  her  face  was  as  homely  as  Afri- 
can faces  ordinarily  are ;  but  she  was  as  faithful  and 
loving  as  she  was  black,  and  no  one  could  hear  her 
soft  musical  voice,  or  see  her  face,  all  radiant,  as  it 
usually  was,  with  native  kindliness,  without  feeling 
drawn  towards  her.  Peter,  her  husband,  was  some 
years  her  junior,  and  was  also  a  good  and  faithful 
servant,  but  he  was  decidedly  stupid.  At  their 
home  in  Georgia  he  had  been  only  a  "  field  hand," 
and  he  had  accompanied  the  party  to  Tampa  as  a 
servant  of  all  work,  only  because  his  master  was 
unwilling  to  separate  husband  and  wife. 

"  Judy,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "  you  know  that  I 
expect  a  boat  from  the  Fort  this  afternoon,  to  go 
with  me  in  search  of  the  children.  We  may  return 
to-morrow,  or  may  be  absent  for  a  week  or  more. 
No  doubt  the  men  aboard  will  bring  their  rations 
with  them ;  but  we  must  not  depend  on  that. 
They  are  going  on  my  business,  and  it  is  but  right 
that  they  should  go  at  my  expense.  I  wish,  there- 
fore, that  you  would  provide  for  them  out  of  my 
stores,  as  well  as  you  can,  and  especially  that  you 
would  try  to  have  something  that  you  think 
soldiers  would  like  to  eat.  Remember  that  all  the 
provisions  intended  for  my  own  use  during  the 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  21 

marooning  party  have  gone  off  with  the  boat. 
Call  upon  Peter  for  any  help  that  you  may  need 
in  this  service." 

Peter,  in  the  meantime,  stood  listening,  until 
his  master  beckoned  to  him,  saying,  "  Until  Judy 
needs  your  help,  come  with'  me,  and  let  me  show 
you  what  work  may  be  done  between  this  and 
my  return,  should  I  be  gone  more  than  a  day  or 
two.'' 

He  then  marked  on  the  ground  the  line  of  a 
light  picket  fence  which  he  knew  Peter  understood 
how  to  make,  and  also  gave  him  instructions  about 
other  matters  in  connection.  During  these  occu- 
pations, however,  he  could  not  resist  going  every 
few  minutes  to  the  bluff  to  see  whether  there  was 
any  sign  of  the  returning  company,  or  of  the  boat 
expected  from  Fort  Brooke. 

Anxiously,  too,  did  he  look  for  the  promised 
signal  by  smoke  from  Riley's  Island.  So  long  as 
the  boat  containing  William  and  Sam  was  in  sight, 
it  seemed  to  him  to  move  very  slowly  over  the 
water.  Then  as  the  hour  of  half-past  eleven  drew 
near,  at  which  he  calculated  the  boat  should  reach 
the  Island,  it  seemed  that  the  sun  as  well  as  the 
hands  of  his  watch  had  become  tardy.  Time  and 
again  he  had  looked  for  the  expected  signal,  when 
at  the  hour  of  noon,  just  as  he  was  beginning  to 
lose  hope,  he  saw  a  little  blue  haze  curling  from 
the  right-hand  side  of  the  palmettos  on  Riley's 
Island,  and  soon  resolving  itself  into  a  smoke. 


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22  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

The  Sight  made  his  heart  beat,  for  its  meaning 
was  "  There  is  news  of  the  children/'  The  next 
moment,  however,  his  fears  gained  the  mastery, 
for  he  said  to  himself,  "  There  is  but  one  smoke. 
That  is  the  sign  of  bad  news;  at  least  of  none 
that  is  good/'  But  ae  he  looked  on  and  indulged 
these  troubled  thoughts,  his  attention  was  caught 
by  another  curl  of  blue  that  arose  from  the  south 
side  of  the  palmettos,  and  he  joyfully  clasped  his 
hands,  exclaiming,  "That  is  the  sign  of  good! 
Perhaps  my  children  are  recovered.  Perhaps  they 
are  on  that  Island,  Perhaps  they  are  even  now 
returning  home." 

He  kept  a  close  and  almost  incessant  watch, 
both  by  the  eye  and  by  the  help  of  a  pocket  spy- 
glass— the  larger  glass  having  been  put  aboard  the 
ill-fated  boat;  but  no  object  appeared  from  sea- 
wards until  late  in  the  evening,  when  he  saw  at 
the  mouth  of  the  bay  a  dark  speck  that  slowly  in- 
creased in  size.  In  the  course  of  time  this  speck 
was  developed  into  a  canoe,  manned  by  a  solitary 
boatman,  who  wielded  his  paddle  as  if  weary  with 
long  exertion.  Long  before  he  reached  shore.  Dr. 
Gordon  knew  by  the  glass  that  the  boatman  was 
William,  his  body-servant,  returning  alone  from 
Riley's  Island.  It  was,  therefore,  highly  probable, 
nay,  almost  certain,  that  the  children  had  not  es- 
caped, and  that  Sam  had  remained  to  accompany 
Riley  on  a  cruise  in  pursuit  of  them.     This  con- 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  ^23 

jecture  proved  true.  William  reached  home  at 
dark,  and  reported  that  the  canoe  had  arrived  at 
the  Island  in  due  time,  and  that  he  had  learned 
from  Pancheta,  Riley's  wife,  that  a  boat  answering 
the  description  of  Dr.  Gordon's  had  passed  the 
Island  about  an  hour  and  a  half  after  sunrise — 
that  Riley  had  recognized  it,  conjectured  the  state 
of  the  case,  gone  off  instantly  in  pursuit,  and  had 
not  returned ;  that  they  then  gave  her  Dr.  Gor- 
don's message  to  Riley,  and  set  off  in  pursuit  of 
him,  first  instructing  her  to  make  two  smokes,  as 
agreed  upon  ;  that  in  the  course  of  an  hour  they 
met  Riley  returning  with  the  news  that  he  had 
tried  in  vain  to  overtake  the  boat  or  even  to  keep 
in  sight  of  it ;  that  when  they  gave  him  the  mes- 
sage about  going  in  pursuit,  he  assented,  saying, 
however,  that  he  must  return  home  for  a  larger 
boat  and  for  provisions,  and  that  he  would  leave 
with  Sam  the  next  morning  at  daylight,  and  fol- 
low down  the  coast  as  far  as  necessary.  He  also 
said  that  Riley  spoke  of  the  boat  as  moving  with 
great  stiffness  and  steadiness  upon  the  water,  and 
that  when  last  seen  she  was  about  four  miles  from 
land,  moving  as  fast  as  ever. 

This  account  greatly  cheered,  at  the  same  time 
that  it  troubled,  the  mind  of  the  anguished  father, 
because  it  proved  that,  although  all  was  well  with 
the  abducted  party  when  last  heard  from,  there 
was  no  prospect  of  their  release  from  the  deadly 
grasp  of  the  devil-fish. 


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24  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

Later  still  in  the  evening  there  was  the  measured 
sound  of  oars  from  the  northeast,  and  at  last  came 
the  expected  barge  from  Fort  Brooke.  It  was 
manned  by  six  able-bodied  oarsmen,  and  was  com- 
manded by  no  less  a  person  than  Major  Burke 
himself,  who  being  a  kinsman  of  Doctor,  or  rather 
of  Mrs.,  Gordon,  felt  a  special  interest  in  the  family 
misfortune,  and  stretched  his  prerogative  of  oflBce 
so  far  as  to  leave  the  command  of  the  Fort  to  the 
officer  next  in  rank,  while  he  accompanied  his 
cousin  in  the  proposed  cruise  along  the  coast.  The 
men  were  furnished  with  rations  for  ten  days,  and 
they  had  on  board  a  good  supply  of  arms  and 
ammunition  in  case  of  hostility  from  the  lawless 
denizens  of  that  wild  and  unfrequented  shore. 
The  delay  in  coming  was  occasioned  by  the  absence 
of  the  Major  until  late  in  the  day,  on  business  of 
the  garrison. 

Besides  the  Major  and  his  men  there  was  on 
board  a  warm  friend  of  Dr.  Gordon's  children  in 
the  person  of  a  half-breed  Indian  boy,  who  was 
known  by  some  as  Willie  or  William  Morgan,  but 
who  preferred  to  be  known  by  his  Indian  name 
of  Wildcat.  Hia  father  was  an  unfortunate  white 
man,  who  having  offijnded  hopelessly  against  the 
laws  of  his  country,  had  fled  from  justice  and 
sought  refuge  among  the  Seminoles,  where  he  mar- 
ried the  beautiful  daughter  of  a  Tustenuggee,  or 
sub-chief,  by  whom  he  had  several  children.   .  The 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  25 

boy  had  formed  a  strong  attachment  to  Major 
Burke ;  and,  his  father  and  the  chief  being  both 
dead^  he  had  asked  and  received  from  his  mother 
permission  to  come  and  serve  his  military  friend 
in  any  capacity  in  which  he  might  learn  more  of 
the  science  of  war,  and  fit  himself  for  being  a 
"  sense-carrier/'  or  interpreter,  between  his  people 
and  the  government.  After  having  served  for 
about  six  months  in  the  capacity  of  a  page  or  hon- 
orable body-servant,  he  formed  the  acquaintance 
of  Dr.  Gordon's  young  people.  This  occurred 
about  a  month  before  the  accident  spoken  of  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  and  during  a  visit  made  by 
them  to  the  Fort. 

His  admiration  had  been  excited  to  a  very  high 
degree  by  the  "book-learning"  of  Robert  Gor- 
don, and  by  the  wild-woods  knowledge  (or,  as  our 
forefathers  called  it,  the  wood-craft)  of  Harold 
Mcintosh,  the  son  of  Dr.  Gordon's  widowed  sister. 
The  two  cousins  and  Wildcat  were  nearly  of  the 
same  age,  a  little  more  or  less  than  fourteen ;  and 
they  had  been  so  well  educated  in  their  respective 
spheres — although  in  many  respects  these  spheres 
were  as  diverse  as  if  they  had  lived  on  different 
continents — that  they  were  well  prepared  to  enjoy 
and  to  be  benefited  by  each  other's  company.  He 
had  often  enchained  their  attention  by  recounting, 
in  his  simple  broken  English,  the  arts  and  expe- 
dients of  Indian  life  and  the  wild  lore  of  his  peo- 
8 


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26  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

pie ;  while  they  had  as  deeply  interested  him  by 
lessons  given  in  the  white  man's  arts  and  white 
man's  learning.  No  one  at  the  Fort  felt  a  more 
lively  interest  than  he  in  the  fate  of  his  young 
friends,  and  he  could  not  be  satisfied  until  he  had 
obtained  from  his  patron  and  employer  a  promise 
that  he  should  be  one  of  the  exploring  party,  to 
be  sent  out  for  the  recovery  of  the  imwilling  fugi- 
tives. 

The  barge  and  its  company  reached  Bellevue, 
Dr.  Gordon's  place,  about  nine  o'clock,  in  the  bril- 
liant light  of  a  moon,  half  at  the  full,  which  shed 
its  sweet  radiance  far  and  wide  over  the  gleaming 
surface  of  the  bay  and  upon  the  dark -green  foliage 
of  the  bluff.  The  night  was  so  inviting  that  the 
question  arose  whether  the  expedition  should  not 
be  commenced  at  once ;  but  as  nothing  could  be 
gained  and  much  might  be  lost  by  passing  Riley's 
Island  in  the  night,  it  was  concluded  to  remain 
safely  moored  at  Bellevue  until  such  time  in  the 
morning  as  would  allow  them  to  reach  the  Island 
about  sunrise. 

The  company  embarked  an  hour  before  day,  just 
as  the  morning  star,  rising  amid  the  darkness  left 
by  the  departed  moon,  began 

**  To  flame  upon  the  forehead  of  the  dawn.'* 

A  light  breeze  from  the  east  filled  their  expanded 
sails,  and  they  went  skimming  over  the  water  at 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  27 

80  rapid  a  rate  as  to  reach  the  Island  at  the  very 
moment  when  a  long  and  narrow  pathway  of  golden 
light,  streaming  from  the  farthest  extremity  of  the 
bay  eastward  to  a  few  oars'  length  of  the  barge, 
announced  that  the  sun  was  peeping  over  the 
water. 

The  two  gentlemen  in  charge  of  the  expedition 
went  immediately  to  Riley's  house,  accompanied 
by  Wildcat,  to  know  if  any  further  tidings  had 
been  received.  They  learned  from  Pancheta,  whom 
they  found  to  be  a  young  and  pretty  squaw,  that 
Riley  and  Sam  had  left  about  two  hours  before,  in 
a  large  canoe,  with  provisions  for  ten  days.  She 
said  that  Riley  did  not  think  it  would  be  safe  for 
him  to  go  very  far  dow^  the  coast,  because  his 
friendliness  to  the  whites  had  made  him  many 
enemies  there.  But  that  he  knew  that  Dr.  Gordon, 
besides  being  a  great  **  Medicine-man,"  was  his 
good  friend ;  and  that  he  would  do  for  him  and 
for  his  young  folks  all  he  could. 

While  they  were  listening  to  this  account, «  mes- 
senger from  the  barge  came  to  announce  that  a 
vessel,  apparently  a  Revenue  Cutter,  had  appeared 
beyond  a  small  island  at  the  south,  beating  up 
against  a  head-wind. 


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CHAPTER  III. 

NEWS  BY  THE  CUTTER, 

O  doubt,  the  cutter  Jackson/^  said  the 
Major,  as  with  rapid  steps  he  and  Dr. 
Gordon  made  their  way  to  the  beach. 
"  She  is  expected  with  Government  dis- 
patches and  supplies  for  our  garrison.  And,  since 
she  is  direct  from  both  Charleston  and  Savannah, 
it  is  possible.  Doctor,  that  she  may  have  letters 
for  you  as  well  as  for  me/' 

"  I  shall  greatly  prize  my  mail,"  responded  Dr. 
Gordon ;  "  yet  I  have  an  interest  in  the  cutter  at 
this  moment  paramount  to  any  reasons  connected 
with  news  from  home.  She  has  probably  passed 
over  the  track  pursued  by  my  fugitives ;  and  if 
she  has  not  been  fortunate  enough  to  have  given 
them  a  passage  back,  I  cannot  but  hope  that  she 
is  able  to  tell  us  something  about  them." 

"Why  did  I  not  think  of  this  myself?"  re- 
joined the  other,  in  a  tone  of  self-reproach. 
By  the  time  they  reached  the  low  bluff,  the  ap- 
»  28 

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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  29 

preaching  vessel  had  passed  so  far  to  seaward  on 
her  larboard  tack  as  to  present  to  their  sight  her 
full  broadside,  with  black  hull,  raking  masts,  and 
well-defined  port-holes.  Every  one  recognized 
her  as  a  cutter,  the  cutter  Jackson. 

"All  aboard!  Shove  off!"  were  orders  issued 
in  rapid  succession.  Officers  and  men  were  in 
their  seats,  except  the  two  belonging  forward. 
They  were  standing  in  the  water  until  the  bow  of 
the  boat  had  been  lifted  from  its  bed  in  the  sand, 
and  was  clearly  afloat,  when  they  leaped  lightly 
in  and  also  took  their  places ;  and  then  the  short 
and  sharp  "  Give  way,  men,"  brought  the  oars  to 
work  with  such  vigor  and  concord  as  to  make  all 
feel  the  successive  impulses  with  which  they  shot 
along  the  water,  until  they  had  rounded  a  pro- 
jecting shoal,  when  the  sail  was  again  raised,  the 
oars  were  unshipped,  and  they  glided  noiselessly 
and  swiftly  on  their  way. 

Less  than  an  hour's  time  brought  the  two  parties 
together.  The  topsails  of  the  cutter  had  been 
backed  by  a  signal  from  the  barge,  bringing  her 
to,  and  a  ladder  of  rope  had  been  thrown  over  the 
vessel's  side,  by  which  Dr.  Gordon  and  the  Major 
ascended  to  the  deck,  and  received  a  cordial  greet- 
ing from  Capt.  Randolph  and  his  courteous  lieu- 
tenants in  command. 

The  question  was  not  asked  whether  the  wan- 
derers were  aboard ;  they  were  not  to  be  seen,  nor 
8* 

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30  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

was  the  boat  aboard  or  in  tow.  The  captain  and 
his  lieutenants,  however,  who  became  instantly 
interested  in  the  case,  gave  an  account  of  what 
they  had  seen. 

^^  About  two  o'clock,  yesterday,''  said  the  cap- 
tain, while  we  lay  becalmed  about  fifty  miles  south 
of  this,  the  watchman  sang  out,  '  Signal  ahead ! ' 
and  soon  afterwards  added,  in  a  tone  of  wonder, 
*  Sail-boat  running  without  wind  or  oars!' 

*^  We  all  gathered  to  the  starboard  to  see  this 
strange  sight,  when,  sure  enough,  our  glasses 
showed  us,  about  three  miles  ahead,  between  us 
and  shore,  a  masted  boat  heading  south  and  in 
rapid  motion.  There  were  four  persons  aboard, 
one  of  whom  was  a  female  and  another  a  little 
boy.  Something  white  had  been  run  up  to  the 
mast-head  to  attract  our  attention,  and  we  could 
see  the  smoke  of  several  guns,  though  the  distance 
was  too  great  for  the  sound  to  reach  us.  Lieut. 
Somers  said  he  saw  the  little  boy  holding  out  his 
hands,  as  if  begging  us  to  help  them. 

"  I  instantly  ordered  a  boat  to  be  lowered  and 
manned  with  six  strong  oarsmen,  to  intercept  and 
help  them  as  they  passed,  and  at  the  same  time 
had  a  signal  run  up  and  two  cannons  fired,  to 
show  them  that  they  had  been  seen. 

"  We  were  for  a  while  at  a  loss  to  account  for 
the  mysterious  motion  of  the  boat,  until  an  old 
salt  belonging  to  these  waters  explained  it  by  say- 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  31 

ing  that  the  auchor  had  probably  been  tripped  by 
a  devil-fish,  which  had  dragged  the  boat  to  sea. 
Now,  we  are  all  familiar  with  this  trick  of  that 
stupid  fish,  and  we  know  that  it  abounds  in 
these  waters,  and  that  it  is  strong  enough,  too, 
in  many  instances,  to  run  ofi*  with  a  boat  of  that 
size,  (for  I  myself  harpooned  one  of  a  school  in 
St.  Joseph's  Bay  that  measured  twenty  feet  across 
the  wings,)  but  we  doubted  whether  they  were 
ever  seen  so  late  in  the  season.  Moreover,  we 
could  not  but  wonder  why,  if  "fliis  surmise  of  the 
sailor  were  correct,  the  people  aboard  had  not  fireed 
themselves  by  cutting  the  cable." 

"  The  cable  was  a  chain,'^  Dr.  Gordon  explained, 
*^  strongly  linked  and  firmly  stapled  to  resist  rob- 
bery. The  young  folks  had  no  tools  aboard  that 
could  cut  or  break  it.  But  pray  go  on  with  your 
account.'' 

"  From  the  time  we  first  saw  the  signal  until 
the  time  the  yawl  started  in  pursuit,  could  not 
have  been  more  than  ten  minutes;  yet  it  was 
manifest  by  the  change  of  place  that  the  boat  was 
moving  through  the  water  at  such  a  rate  that  our 
only  chance  of  intercepting  her  was  by  keeping 
well  ahead  and  nearer  shore.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, for  the  help  intended,  there  came  down  a 
shower  of  rain,  attended  with  thunder  and  light- 
ning— " 

At  this   moment  the  captain  observed  an  ex- 


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32  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

pression  of  great  anxiety  overspread  the  face  of 
his  listener,  who  at  the  same  time  noticed  a  signifi- 
cant glance  exchanged  by  the  lieutenants,  and  he 
hastily  added, — 

"  There  was  no  wind  though ;  at  least  none  that 
a  boat  so  steady  as  that  would  feel ;  only  the  little 
outrider  that  you  may  always  see,  on  land  and 
water,  preceding  a  shower,  and  which  seems  to  be 
a  blast  caused  by  the  fall  of  rain.  I  am  pretty 
sure  that,  although  the  rain  was  quite  heavy  all 
around  the  cutter,  it  did  not  extend  half-way  to 
the  boat.  What  do  you  say,  Lieut.  Somers?"  he 
asked,  addressing  the  pleasant-looking  young  man 
at  his  side. 

"  I  am  as  sure  as  I  can  be  of  anything  two  miles 
away,*'  he  replied,  "  that  not  a  drop  of  rain  reached 
the  boat ;  and  as  for  wind,  there  was  barely  enough 
to  shake  our  sails  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes." 

With  these  assurances  Dr.  Gordon  seemed  re- 
lieved, and  the  captain  continued : 

"  By  the  time  the  rain  cleared  away,  the  boat 
had  passed  beyond  reach,  and,  indeed,  beyond 
sight,  for  there  was  a  slight  mist  or  fog  sufficient 
to  conceal  everything  at  the  distance  of  a  mile. 
We,  however,  did  not  give  up  the  boat  and  its 
crew  for  a  long  time  after  it  disappeared,  but  every 
once  in  a  while  we  fired  a  gun  to  show  where  we 
were,  and  to  let  them  know  that  we  were  ready  to 
do  what  we  could  for  their  relief. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  33 

"  The  last  that  any  of  us  saw  of  them  was  about 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  or  later.  The  mist 
which  still  hung  over  the  sea  near  us  had  cleare<l 
away  in  the  south,  and  the  man  in  the  foretop 
said  he  saw,  far  away  down  the  coast,  something 
that  looked  like  the  spread  of  a  small  sail  glancing 
in  the  light  of  the  almost  setting  sun 

**  Sorry  I  am.  Doctor,"  the  captain  said,  in  "con- 
clusion, "  that  I  can  give  no  better  account  of  our 
attempt  to  succor  your  young  folks.  I  feel  almost 
certain,  however,  from  what  was  reported  by  our 
look-out  in  the  foretop,  that  they  succeeded  at 
last  in  getting  loose  from  the  devil-fish,  and  that 
long  before  night  they  had  safely  landed  (for  they 
were  not  more  than  five  or  six  miles  from  shore), 
and  that  by  this  time  they  have  again  spread  their 
sail  on  their  return  home/' 

"  God  grant  it  may  be  as  you  say,"  Dr.  Gordon 
ejaculated.  "  And  most  sincerely  do  I  thank  you, 
captain,  and  others  of  your  vessel,  for  these  hu- 
mane efforts,  although  they  did  not  accomplish  all 
that  you  wished." 

*'  I  have  another  fact  to  relate,  which  may  have 
some  bearing  on  the  case,"  resumed  the  captain. 
"  This  morning,  soon  after  daylight,  a  canoe  passed 
us  about  two  miles  to  the  eastward,  just  inside  a 
reef  or  shoal  that  extends  from  this  island  to  the 
key  below.  It  was  going  south,  and  seemed  to 
contain  a  light-colored  Indian  and  a  negro." 
c  • 


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34  MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

"  These  were  Riley,  the  owner  of  this  island, 
and  one  of  my  servants,  going  in  search  of  my 
children,"  Dr.  Gordon  responded. 

By  this  time  the  purser  came  forward  with  let- 
ters and  despatches  for  the  two  gentlemen,  and  for 
some  of  the  boat's  crew  whose  names  had  been 
mentioned.  After  opening  and  glancing  at  a  few 
of  the  despatches.  Major  Burke  turned  gravely  to 
the  Doctor  and  said, — 

"  I  am  sorry  to  inform  you,  my  friend,  that  the 
orders  just  received  require  my  immediate  return 
to  Fort  Brooke.  This,  however,  need  not  inter- 
fere with  your  expedition,  for  you  are  welcome  to 
the  barge  and  to  the  use  of  the  men  so  long  as 
they  are  necessary  for  your  purpose.  I  am  only 
sorry  that  I  am  denied  the  pleasure  of  accompany- 
ing you  in  person." 

Dr.  Gordon  expressed  the  greatest  obligation 
for  these  kind  intentions,  and  a  regret  for  the  loss 
of  his  friend's  company ;  still  he  said  he  had  no 
doubt  that  in  so  plain  a  work  as  simply  exploring 
the  coast,  he  and  the  crew  were  perfectly  compe- 
tent to  all  that  was  necessary. 

While  this  sequel  in  the  conversation  was  going 
on,  Wildcat,  who  had  occupied  a  respectful  dis- 
|;ance  witjiin  hearing,  began  to  show  signs  of  great 
pneasine^s,  especially  for  one  trained  as  he  had 
been  to  the  sobriety  apd  stoicism  of  the  Indian ; 
he  shifted  hastily  his  position^  and  looked  with 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  35 

searching  glance  deep  into  the  eyes  first  of  his 
employer,  then  of  Dr.  Gordon.  Finally,  he 
watched  the  opportunity  of  a  moment's  silence, 
when  he  glided  modestly  up  to  the  Major  and 
whispered  a  word  in  his  ear,  who  replied, — 

"  Certainly,  Wildcat,  I  shall  be  glad  to  do  so, 
both  for  your  own  sake  and  for  that  of  the  others. 
You  are  one  of  the  last  I  should  think  of  stopping." 
The  boy's  face  flashed  with  delight.  He  mur- 
mured gratefully  one  single  word  of  his  tribe, 
"  Enk-lis-chay  ! "  *  then  quietly  resumed  his  place. 
Not  perfectly  understanding  the  language  used,  he 
had  been  uncertain  whether  his  going  depended 
upon  the  contingency  of  the  Major's  going  too, 
and  had  come  to  inquire. 

Resuming  now  his  conversation  with  the  Doctor, 
and  talking  in  an  undertone,  the  Major  said : 

**You  will  find  that  boy  a  perfect  treasure. 
Not  only  is  he  true  as  steel  in  his  courage  and 
fidelity,  but  he  is  quick  in  his  perceptions  of  an 
exigency  and  in  his  device  for  meeting  it.  I  can 
commend  him  to  your  confidence  as  well  as  to  your 
care.  The  crew  are  picked  men  and  have  a  char- 
acter to  sustain.  I  doubt  not  they  will  prove 
themselves  orderly  and  obedient.  Sergeant  Tom- 
kins,  whom  I  appoint  in  command,  under  your 
direction,  is  skilled  in  the  language  and  habits  of 
tlie  Seminoles,  generally — they  being  composed, 
*  Geod. 


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36  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

as  you  know,  of  refugees  from  several  diiferent 
nations.  He  lived  among  them  so  long  that  he  is 
almost  half  Indian  in  his  own  ways.  Corporal 
Wheeler,  the  man  next  him  in  position  and  capa- 
bility, has  seen  a  good  deal  of  wild  life  in  Mexico 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Should  you  be  so 
unfortunate  as  to  have  any  collision  with  the  In- 
dians, these  men  will  be  invaluable.  Of  the  rest 
I  know  little,  except  that  they  are  well-behaved 
soldiers,  and  that  they  have  been  selected  by  Tom- 
kins  with  express  reference  to  their  fitness  for  this 
work.  Yes,  Simpson,  that  swarthy-faced  man 
with  black  hair  and  with  a  down  look,  that  I  con- 
fess I  do  not  like,  lived  for  some  years  among  the 
Eufaulas  of  Alabama,  and  not  only  speaks  the 
Muscogee  language,  but  can  also  understand  and 
make  himself  known  in  the  grunts  of  the  Uchees, 
of  whom  there  are  quite  a  number  scattered  along 
this  coast. 

"  And  now  a  word  in  your  ear  about  the  Indians 
you  will  probably  meet,  if  you  meet  any  at  all. 
Some  are  friendly,  but  the  greater  part  are  restless, 
dissatisfied,  and  ready  at  any  time  to  break  out 
into  hostility.  My  advice  to  you  is  that  you  have 
as  little  as  possible  to  do  with  them ;  but  if  forced 
to  communicate,  let  your  dealings,  and  those  of  the 
men,  be  at  the  same  time  bold  and  conciliatory ; 
for  there  are  no  people  who  more  admire  manhood, 
and  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  they  are  not  insen- 
sible to  Idndnpfis.'^ 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  37 

Then  lo^vle^ing  his  voice  to  a  whisper,  he  added^ 
"I  trust,  however,  tliat  these  seemingly  imminent 
hostilities  may  be  averted;  for  the  despatches  just 
now  received  inform  me  that  a  *  big  talk'  with  the 
chiefs  is  proposed  to  be  held  at  Payne's  Landing, 
to  the  northeast  of  Tampa,  for  which  I  am  ordered 
to  make  immediate  preparations." 

At  this  point,  Captain  Randolph  approached, 
saying,  "  I  have  a  proposition  to  make.  It  is  this : 
that,  unless  your  instructions,  Major,  require  my 
presence,  I  will  l^ave  Tampa  day  after  to-morrow 
and  sail  close  along  shore,  keeping  a  look-out  for 
the  young  folks,  or  standing  ready  to  take  the 
Doctor  as  far  as  Key  West  or  the  Tortugas,  if  he  so 
desire;  at  either  of  which  places  he  can  engage 
wreckers  to  scour  the  coast  with  or  for  him  from 
Cape  Sable  to  Tampa  Bay." 

Major  Burke  replied,  that  he  had  seen  nothing 
in  his  instructions,  so  far  as  they  had  been  ex- 
amined, to  interfere  with  such  an  arrangement,  and 
that  he  would  esteem  any  assistance  of  the  kind 
rendered  to  Dr.  Gordon,  in  his  efforts  for  the  re- 
covery of  his  children,  as  a  favor  done  to  himself. 

Dr.  Gordon  thanked  both  these  gentlemen  for 
their  evidences  of  good  will,  and  said  that,  although 
he  was  unable  to  form  an  opinion  as  to  the  desir- 
ableness of  such  a  measure,  he  would  esteem  it  a 
kindnegs  if  Capt.  Randolph  would  sail  as  close  in 
shore  as  convenient  and  keep  a  look-out  for  any 


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38  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

signals  that  might  be  given,   either*  by  flag  or 
smoke. 

And  so  they  parted — Dr.  Gordon,  with  Wild- 
cat in  company,  going  aboard  the  barge,  while 
Major  B.  remained  on  the  cutter  for  the  purpose 
of  returning  to  Fort  Brooke. 


CHAPTER   ir. 

THE  CRUISE  BEGUN. 


URING  the  conference  recorded  in  the 
preceding  chapter  the  cutter  had  re- 
mained with  backed  topsails,  or  else  had 
sailed  in  short  curves  arouild  the  spot 
where  she  was  first  boarded.  It  was  near  mid- 
day before  the  barge  pushed  off  and  spread  her 
sails  to  the  now  freshening  breeze.  She  had 
scarcely  got  into  motion  before  the  boatswain  of 
the  cutter  was  heard  piping  all  hands  to  star- 
board, where  fifty  caps  soon  waved  over  the  gun- 
wale and  fifty  voices  cheered  the  departing  voy- 
agers, while  a  flag  was  run  up  the  mast  in  token 
of  honor  and  good  will.  Dr.  Gordon  bowed  his 
acknowledgments  with  uncovered  head,  while  his 
men  waved  their  caps,  and  Wheeler,  who  was  sail- 
ing-master, ran  up  to  the  masthead,  in  reply,  the 
only  piece  of  bunting  at  his  command. 


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AIAROONER'S  ISLAND.  39 

This  day  was  Wednesday,  and  although  the  honr 
was  too  early  for  regular  dinner,  the  captain  of 
the  cutter,  with  great  hospitality,  had  ordered, 
through  the  steward,  a  plentiful  lunch  for  all  his 
visitors,  both  in  the  cabin  and  at  the  vessel's  side, 
so  ihat  the  departing  crew  was  saved  from  all  de- 
lay and  inconvenience  on  account  of  rations  before 
aight.  For  several  hours  the  cutter  and  the  barge 
continued  in  sight  of  each  other — the  one  making 
due  east  for  the  bay,  at  the  north  end  of  which 
lies  Fort  Brooke,  and  the  other  seeking  a  passage 
around  the  north  end  of  Riley's  Island,  in  order 
to  pass  between  it  and  the  main,  and  thus  to  keep 
down  the  coast  in  the  smooth  water  that  prevails 
inside  the  long  chain  of  reefs,  shoals,  keys  and 
islands  thatr  skirt  the  western  coast  of  peninsular 
Florida. 

In  passing  the  sheet  of  water  known  as  Manatee 
Bay,  the  exploring  party  delayed  only  long  enough 
to  look  in  and  certify  themselves  that  the  missing 
boat  was  not  there.  They  then  continued  evenly 
between  the  shore  and  the  reef  so  as  to  keep  a  safe 
lookout  on  both  sides.  All  that  afternoon  the  land 
showed  little  more  than  a  low,  sandy  bluff,  sur- 
mounted every  now  and  then  with  a  heavy  breast- 
work of  sand  blown  up  by  the  wind  and  orna- 
mented at  intervals  with  clumps  of  tropical-looking 
palmettos,  or  with  groves  of  wide-spreading  live- 
oaks,  while  patches  of  large-leaved  cactus,  high  as 


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40  MAROONJ^R'S  ISLAND. 

a  man's  waist,  and  crimsoned  with  beautiful  pears, 
the  size  of  a  pullet's  ^gg,  occasionally  adorned  the 
spaces  between. 

Perhaps  no  opportunity  more  <Jonvenient  than 
the  present  can  be  found  for  gratifying  the  desire 
of  those  who  may  wish  to  know  more  of  the  pecu- 
liarities of  the  western  coast  of  Florida,  to  which 
our  story  confines  us,  and  of  which  we  seldom  see 
any  accounts. 

The  Bay,  known  as  Tampa,  extends  from  Eg- 
mont  Key  to  the  town  of  Tampa,  about  forty 
miles  distant,  and  varies  in  width  from  eight  to 
twelve  miles.  Extending  east  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
miles,  it  bends  suddenly  northward  and  divides 
into  two  tongues,  the  western  of  which,  a  shallow 
lagoon,  is  called  Old  Tampa,  and  the  eastern  Hills- 
borough. The  part  which  is  common  to  both 
these  tongues  is  called  Spiritu  Santo,  or  Holy 
Ghost  bay,  being  the  name  given  to  it  by  De  Soto 
when  he  landed  here  on  his  famous  expedition 
in  1538. 

Of  all  the  beautiful  inlets  and  harbors  on  the 
Gulf  coast,  this  is  the  easiest  of  access,  and  the 
best  protected  from  storms.  Its  mouth  is  land- 
locked by  the  small  low  island,  or  key,  called 
Egmont,  on  which  is  a  light-house,  and  between 
which  and  Mullet  Key,  (another  low  island  to  the 
west,)  is  a  pass  or  channel  having  a  depth  of 
twenty-three  feet  at  low  water,  while  to  the  south- 
east is  another  pass  not  quite  so  wide  or  so  deep. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  41 

From  Tampa,  as  far  south  as  Punta  Rassa,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Caloosahatchie  river,  the  coast  is 
double,  having  a  chain  of  keys  and  shoals  extend- 
ing, with  scarcely  an  interruption,  the  whole  dis- 
tance. These  keys  are  composed  of  sand  and 
broken  shells,  some  almost  wholly  of  one,  some 
of  the  other,  and  some  of  a  mixture  of  both,  and 
are  covered  with  mangroves,  cabbage  palmettos, 
live-oaks,  and  various  other  trees  and  shrubs ;  and 
are  inhabited  by  wild  turkeys,  deer,  raccoons, 
bears,  and  other  denizens  of  the  forest,  and,  in 
some  instances,  by  wild  hogs  and  cattle  that  have 
strayed  there  from  the  main. 

The  palmetto  is  a  tall,  beautiful  tree  of  the  class 
known  by  botanists  as  endogens,  because  its  growth 
is  by  additions  inside  the  trunk,  and  not,  as  in 
ordinary  trees,  by  successive  layers  of  wood  on 
the  outside.  It  has  neither  limbs  nor  bark,  but 
grows  by  means  of  a  single  terminal  bud  at  the 
top,  which  is  always  tender  and  edible,  and  being 
in  flavor  not  unlike  cabbage,  has  caused  the  tree 
to  be  called  by  some  the  cabbage-tree,  or  cabbage 
palmetto.  The  fruit  is  a  small  berry  growing  in 
clusters.  The  leaves,  of  which  there  are  some- 
times as  many  as  fifty,  are  all  at  the  summit  and 
constitute  each  an  immense  fan,  from  three  to  six 
feet  in  diameter,  expanding  from  a  flat  stem  a 
yard  long  and  two  or  three  inches  wide.  The 
trees  grow  singly  or  in  immense  groves,  according 


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42  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

to  circumstances.  The  wood  is  worthless  as  tim- 
ber, being  only  a  dense  pith,  hardened  on  the 
outside  by  exposure  to  the  weather,  and  strength- 
ened within  with  long,  tough  threads,  which  run 
longitudinally  with  the  trunk,  and  often  project, 
like  sharp  needles,  through  the  surface. 

The  mangrove  is  a  growth  of  the  salt  marshes 
and  quicksands,  requiring  frequent  overflow  from 
the  tides.  It  is  a  shrub,  with  a  woody  stem  that 
is  close-grained,  hard  and  knotty,  and  when  dry 
makes  a  quick,  hot  fire.  The  leaf  resembles  some- 
what that  of  the  lemon  in  shape  and  size,  being 
thick  and  of  a  dark  green  color,  so  that  a  man- 
grove marsh  at  a  little  distance  is  a  lovely  sight. 
Its  growth  is  peculiar :  it  has  quite  as  many  roots 
branching  from  the  trunk  towards  the  ground  be- 
low as  it  has  limbs  branching  towards  the  air  and 
sun  above.  These  limbs  begin  near  the  ground 
and  extend  laterally  a  great  distance,  sending  out 
roots,  like  the  banyan  tree,  to  form  new  trunks, 
and  to  support  the  weight  of  the  foliage  above. 
These  branches  and  roots  interlace  so  densely  that 
a  mangrove  swamp  is  almost  impenetrable. 

When  the  declining  sun  approached  the  tree- 
tops  of  a  pretty  key  to  the  west,  the  bow  of  the 
barge  was  turned  towards  a  creek  or  cove  that  set 
deeply  inland,  bounded  by  a  luxuriant  mangrove 
marsh  upon  one  side,  and  by  a  sandy  bluflF  densely 
wooded  with  cedars  and  stunted  pines  upon  the 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  43 

other.  Here  they  prepared  to  spend  their  first 
night.  Two  tents  were  pitched — one  for  Dr. 
Gordon,  Tomkins,  and  Wildcat,  the  other  for 
Wheeler  and  the  four  men.  A  few  armfuls  of 
dead  wood  soon  produced  a  crackling  fire,  and 
caused  the  merry  kettles  to  sing  the  welcome  song 
of  supper;  and  the  odor  of  some  delicious  tea 
which  Dr.  Gordon  had  given  as  a  treat  to  the  men, 
in  addition  to  their  ordinary  rations,  appeared  to 
exert  a  refreshing  influence,  even  before  it  was 
tasted. 

And  now,  as  they  gather  round  their  ruddy  fire 
to  enjoy  their  evening  meal,  the  group  is  so  pic- 
turesque that  we  are  tempted  to  pause  a  moment 
and  look  at  it. 

Seated  on  a  camp-stool,  and  marked  as  the  only 
one  of  the  company  habited  in  citizen's  attire,  is 
Dr.  Gordon,  a  man  of  ordinary  height  and  middle 
age,  with  a  countenance  of  thoughtful,  habitual 
cheerfulness,  but  pale  now  from  distress,  and  wear- 
ing at  times  an  expression  of  anxiety.  He  occu- 
pies a  place  near  the  door  of  his  tent,  listening  to 
the  lively  jests  of  the  men,  and  occasionally  throw- 
ing in  a  kindly  word  to  make  them  feel  more  at . 
their  ease.  Near  him,  on  a  log  rolled  there  for 
the  purpose,  is  the  stalwart  form  of  Sergeant  Tom- 
kins.  No  one  who  looks  into  his  calm  gray  eyes 
will  doubt  that  he  is  a  man  of  courage,  and  the 
quick,  merry  twinkle  of  that  same  eye  proves  that 


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44  MAROONER'S    ISLAND. 

he  is  good-Datured,  too,  and  can  enjoy  a  joke  as 
well  as  any  of  them.  But  Sergeant  Tomkins  is 
withal  a  martinet  in  his  ideas  of  order,  and  can 
never  for  a  moment  forget  that  the  military  com- 
mand of  the  company  devolves  on  him,  and  that 
a  certain  degree  of  persistent  dignity  is  necessary 
to  discipline.  Standing  respectfully  beside  and 
somewhat  in  the  rear  of  Dr.  Gordon  is  Wildcat, 
whose  intelligent  face  is  lighted  up  with  pleasure 
at  a  remark  just  addressed  to  him  by  his  patron. 
His  dress  is  neither  that  of  the  soldier  nor  of  the 
citizen,  but  of  the  Indian.  The  materials  are  of 
dressed  deerskin,  buff-colored  and  profusely  orna- 
mented. A  hunting-shirt,  with  a  broad  cape  over 
the  shoulders,  and  with  a  deerskin  fringe  on  all 
its  edges,  covers  his  body  and  reaches  half-way 
down  his  thigh.  Leggings  of  the  same,  and  fringed 
in  like  manner,  cover  his  legs  from  hip  to  ankle, 
while  moccasins,  heavy  with  small,  bright-colored 
beads,  enclose  his  feet,  and  a  flap  or  apron,  still 
more  adorned  than  the  moccasins,  and  having 
pockets,  protects  the  stomach.  His  head  is  en- 
veloped in  a  handkerchief  worn  as  a  turban.  This 
dress  was  prepared  by  the  skilful  fingers  of  his 
mother,  and  Wildcat  would  feel  denationalized  if 
he  doffed  it  for  any  other  costume.  At  the  moment 
we  look  upon  him,  he  is  starting  from  his  position 
by  Dr.  Gordon  to  the  men  beside  the  fire,  where 
he  is  to  take  his  share  of  supper. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  45 

Wheeler  and  his  men  are  seated  on  the  clean 
sand,  each  with  his  tin  plate  and  tin  cup  in  hand, 
preparing  to  enjoy  the  contents.  He  is  a  man  of 
well-knit  frame,  and  in  his  aspect  it  is  hard  to  de- 
termine which  predominates,  the  soldier,  the  sailor, 
or  the  hunter.  Of  the  other  men,  the  swarthy 
visage,  heavy  figure  and  down  look  of  Simpson 
are  i»  striking  contrast  with  the  open,  laughing 
face,  light  complexion  and  agile  figure  of  a 
pleasant-looking  man  beside  him  of  the  name  of 
Jones.  Thompson,  (Swan  .Thompson  he  calls 
himself,)  an  Irishman  but  recently  imported  from 
the  Green  Isle,  acts  as  temporary  cook  in  place  of 
Magruder,  a  raw-boned,  sandy-whiskered  Scotch- 
man, who  treads  the  margin  of  the  bluff  as  sentry 
over  both  camp  and  boat. 

On  the  edge  of  the  bluff,  within  a  few  paces  of 
the  fire,  glisten  the  bright  muskets  of  the  men, 
stacked  according  to  military  rule,  while  the  barge, 
within  full  reach  of  the  firelight,  tilts  heavily  upon 
the  sand,  where  she  lies  aground ;  and  the  shelly 
beach  stretches  like  a  broad  white  belt  between 
the  sleeping  waters  of  the  cove,  on  the  one  side, 
and  the  dark  forest  of  pines  and  cedars  on  the 
other,  illumined  from  below  by  the  rich  red  of  the 
resinous  fire,  and  from  above  by  the  silvery  light 
of  a  moon,  nearly  overhead,  and  more  than  half 
at  the  full. 


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CHAPTER   F, 


THE  FIRST  NIGHT  ASHORE. 

MERRY  crowd  they  were,  and  many  a 
harmless  prank  was  played  off  under  the 
grave  yet  complacent  eyes  of  those  sit- 
ting at  the  door  of  what  some  of  the  men 
called  the  marquee,  for  soldiers  released  from  duty 
are  like  boys  let  out  of  school. 

Dr.  Gordon,  who  made  it  a  rule  to  cultivate 
cheerfulness  under  all  circumstances,  and  whose 
habit  it  was  to  watch  the  different  devices  by 
which  the  various  acts  of  life  are  accomplished, 
interested  himself  in  observing  the  men  while 
they  enjoyed  their  tea. 

"I  say,  Pah-thrick,"  said  Jones,  addressing 
Thompson,  and  trying  to  imitate  the  brogue  of  a 
south  of  Ireland  man,  "  how  do  people  in  ould 
Ireland  manage  to  dhrink  their  tay  out  of  tin  cups 
when  it  is  scalding  hot,  and  there  is  no  saucer  to 
cool  it  in?'' 

"  We  drink  it  so,"  replied  Thompson,  suiting 
the  action  to  the  word,  and  pointing  to  his  cup, 

4& 


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MARO ONER'S  ISLAND,  47 

which  had  been  ]>laoed  on  the  ground  to  cool. 
"And,  moreover/*  he  retorted  in  a  fiiir  English 
tone,  which  he  could  assume  at  will,  being  a  mid- 
country  man  and  having  less  than  usual  of  the 
national  accent,  "my  name  is  not  Patrick  any 
more  than  yours  is  Sambo.  My  mother  called  me 
Swan  because  I  was  so  white  and  pretty,  and  I 
have  been  called  so  ever  since.'* 

"  That  must  have  been  when  you  were  a  baby,'* 
returned  Jones,  "for  you  are  a  very  different- 
looking  swan  now." 

"Do  you  want  to  know  why?"  Thompson 
inquired.  "  When  I  was  only  a  little  boy,  my 
mother  married  a  man  by  the  name  of  Jones,  and 
after  that  I  stopped  taking  after  my  own  father, 
and  got  to  looking  like  the  Joneses.  That  is  the 
reason  I  am  no  better-looking. 

This  preposterous  statement — more  decidedly 
American  than  Irish — completely  turned  the  laugh 
against  Jones,  who,  nevertheless,  persisted  in  his 
original  purpose,  for  he  and  Thompson  were  ex- 
cellent friends,  and  they  enjoyed  themselves  much 
in  their  rough  jests  upon  each  other. 

"But,"  said  he,  "if  there  are  such  things  in 
Ireland  as  hot  tea  and  tin  cups,  I  should  be  glad 
to  know  how  they  manage  them  together,  that  I 
may  judge  whether  our  American  plan  is  not 
better." 

"  We  have  plenty  of  tea  in  Ireland,"  Thomp- 


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48  MAROONER'  S  ISLAND. 

son  replied,  ^*  and  plenty  of  tin  cups  too,  but  we 
are  too  wise  to  use  them  together  hot.  We  wait 
till  they  are  cool." 

"  That  would  be  too  slow  for  us  fast  Americans," 
said  Jones. 

"  I  '11  tell  you  how  we  manage  out  thar  in 
Georgy,  whar  I  come  from,"  chimed  in  Simpson, 
who  perceived  from  the  signs  that  there  was  some 
fun  in  prospect,  "  we  pour  in  plenty  of  cold  milk." 

"Don't  you?"  said  Thompson,  smacking  his 
lips  at  the  thought;  "and  would  n't  we  do  the 
same  if  we  had  it?" 

"  But  as  you  have  n't  it,  what  would  you  do  to 
save  time?"  said  Jones,  persisting  in  his  perse- 
cution ;  but  Thompson  seemed  to  be  tired  of  the 
joke  and  ceased  to  answer ;  Jones,  therefore,  ad- 
dressed the  question  to  Wheeler,  who  replied  : 

"  I  would  do  as  I  am  doing  now ;  break  into  it 
my  bread,  and  then  eat  with  a  spoon ;  by  the  time 
my  biscuit  is  soaked  and  eaten,  my  tea  is  cool 
enough  to  drink." 

"And  now,  friend  Sambo,"  said  Thompson, 
"  after  having  asked  so  many  times,  it  is  only  fair 
that  we  should  hear  what  you  would  do." 

This  question  was  exactly  what  Jpnes  had  been 
all  along  trying  to  draw  out  from  Thompson,  for, 
knowing  well  his  habits,  and  seeing  that  he  was 
preparing  as  usual  to  toast  his  bread  at  the  fire, 
he  had  used  the  intervals  when  the  other's  back 


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MAROONER'S   ISLAND.  49 

was  turned,  to  play  upon  him  a  practical  joke. 
He  had  slyly  emptied  Thompson's  canteen  of 
water  on  the  ground,  then  poured  the  tea  into  the 
canteen,  and  finally  placed  the  empty  tin  cup  on 
the  wet  earth  to  appear  as  if  the  tea  had  been  lost. 

."What  would  I  do?''  he  replied;  "why  I 
would  pour  my  tea  into  my  empty  canteen,  and 
then  pour  it,  little  by  little,  into  my  cup;  just  so." 

Jones  was  about  to  give  an  illustration  of  his 
mode  of  procedure,  but  was  brought  to  a  sudden 
stop.  His  own  cup  was  missing.  Wildcat,  who 
was  passing,  with  noiseless  tread,  to  the  rear  of 
the  group  at  the  moment  when  Jones'  attention 
was  engrossed,  and  whose  quick  eye  discerned  tl^e 
trick  about  to  be  perpetrated,  resolved  to  add  to 
the  amusement  of  the  company  by  a  little  prank 
of  his  own.  He  carried  off  Jones'  cup,  and,  with 
a  sly  wink,  put  it  into  the  hands  of  Magruder,  the 
sentinel ;  after  which  he  came  to  the  tea-pot  and 
soberly  poured  out  his  own  tea,  just  as  Jones,  dis- 
covering his  misfortune,  called  out,  "  Where 's  n^y 
cup?" 

"  That  ere's  hit,  ain't  hit  ?  "  said  Simpson,  laugh- 
ing and  pointing  to  Thompson's  forlorn-looking 
cup. 

"  Blessed  Saint  Patrick !  "  exclaimed  Thomp- 
son, looking  ruefully  at  the  wet  ground  and  the 
capsized  cup;  "that's  mine  !  n^e  owp  darling  t^ea! 
and  lost  it  is  forever  I  " 

P 


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50  MAROONER' S  ISLAXD. 

"Lost?  no!''  rejoined  Wheeler;  "I  heard  you 
say  yesterday  that  a  thing  is  never  lost  when  you 
know  where  it  is.  But  poor  Jones'  tea  is  lost,  for 
it  is  gone  where  I  dare  say  he  will  never  find  it 
again." 

Jones'  face  by  this  time  had  stretched  to  such 
length  that  Thompson  burst  into  a  laugh,  saying : 

"Come,  Jones,  let's  be  content  with  water  in 
place  of  tea.  People  say  that  misery  loves  com- 
pany, and  sure  we  both  have  reasons  to  be  thank- 
ful for  having  each  a  neighbor  as  bad  off  as  ourself." 

With  this  remark  he  put  his  hand  upon  his 
canteen,  and,  perceiving  from  its  changed  temper- 
ature the  harmless  nature  of  the  joke  played  upon 
him,  he  said,  merrily, — 

"  Feel  in  your  canteen,  Sambo ;  I  suspect  some- 
body has  been  cooling  the  tea  for  you  too." 

Jones  felt  there,  but  in  vain,  then  said  resign- 
edly to  his  companions, — 

"Well,  fellows,  I  have  got  only  what  I  de- 
served, for  not  watching  while  in  such  company  as 
this  is.  So  I  '11  drink  my  water,  and  say  nothing 
more  about  the  tea." 

While  thus  making  the  best  of  his  misfortune, 
(for  Jones  was  a  dear  lover  of  the  beverage,  and 
that  lost  cup  had  emitted  a  most  delicious  odor,) 
Wildcat  came  gravely  forward,  and  presenting  his 
own  smoking  cup  said,  in  a  tone  of  mock  com- 
passion, but  with  his  Indian  order  of  words, — 


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MAROONER'S  ISLA'ND.  51 

"  Here !  half  of  mine  take !  Your  cup,  hand  it 
to  me/' 

"  Be  off,  you  bundle  of  mischief! "  stormed 
Jones,  while  his  face  relaxed  into  a  manifest  smile, 
for  he  and  Wildcat  also  were  excellent  friends, 
and  he  was  convinced  by  the  other's  officious  pity 
that  the  tea,  although  for  the  present  missing, 
would  soon  be  forthcoming.  "  Be  off,  and  bring 
back  my  cup.  You  know  where  it  is ;  I  see  it  in 
your  eye." 

"  Cup  too  much  big  to  be  in  my  eye,"  Wildcat 
replied,  at  the  same  time  pulling  down  his  lower 
eyelids  with  his  fingers.  "  Tea  not  in  here ;  tea 
too  much  hot." 

"  Nobody  said  that  the  tea  was  in  your  eye, 
though  I  will  put  some  sand  there  if  you  do  not 
bring  back  my  cup,"  Jones  threatened,  grasping,  as  • 
he  spoke,  a  handful  of  sand.  Wildcat  pretended  to 
be  dreadfully  alarmed,  and  fled  to  Thompson  for 
protection ;  then  whispering  in  his  ear,  "  Fight 
him  for  me,"  he  slipped  around  to  Magruder, 
obtained  the  missing  cup,  glided  noiselessly  to  the 
rear  of  Jones,  who  was  warding  off  some  witticism 
of  Thompson's,  and  put  down  the  cup  near  Jones' 
heels,  saying, — 

"  Ees-ta  had-kin  *  must  take  care !  Tea  will 
burn  his  foot ! " 

Gladly  did  JonQS  turn  at  this  hint,  to  find  his 
*  White  nmn. 


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52  MAROOXER'S  ISLAND. 

tea  lying  close  within  reach ;  and  finding  also  that 
it  was  now  cooled  down  to  the  exact  temperature 
he  liked  best,  he  sipped  it  with  great  complacency ; 
then  looking  at  Wildcat's  smoking  cup,  he  resumed 
his  old  question,  and  asked,  — 

"  How  does  the  Ees-ta  chat-tee  *  drink  his  hot 
tea  from  a  tin  cup  ?" 

"So,''  replied  Wildcat,  taking  from  his  pouch 
a  joint  of  reed,  open  at  both  ends,  and  with  great 
comfort  sipping  the  hot  tea  through  it. 

"  That  joint  of  reed,"  said  Jones,  looking  with 
admiration  upon  his  little  friend,  "is  a  perfect 
wonder  in  that  boy's  hands.  I  have  seen  him  get 
water'  with  it,  where  without  it  you  could  get 
none;  I  have  seen  him  drink  through  it  when  the 
water  was  so  muddy  or  so  wormy  that  without  it 
you  could  drink  none;  I  have  seen  him  kindle  a 
fire  with  it,  when  without  it  you  could  kindle 
none;  and  I  have  seen  him  find  game  with  it, 
when  without  it  you  could  find  none." 

Jones'  enthusiasm  produced  a  laugh,  but  he 
continued:  "I  am  telling  you  the  truth.  I  saw 
him  use  it  one  day  as  a  turkey-call;  he  put  it 
between  his  lips  and  made  a  quick  jerking  noise 
through  it  that  soon  brought  a  gobbler  strutting 
towards  us  from  the  bushes.  I  saw  him  use  it 
a2:ain  for  a  blow-pipe;  we  had  only  a  spark  of 
fire  that  we  were  afraid  would  go  out,  but  he  put 
*  Red  man,  or  Indian. 


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CAMP  SCENE  —Pagt  52. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  53 

the  spark  between  two  dead  coals,  and  blew  upon 
it  through  his  reed  until  both  coals  were  in  a  glow. 
I  saw  him  use  it  to  obtain  water  one  day  on  the 
beach  when  we  were  fishing;  our  canteens  had 
given  out,  and  the  sand  was  so  spongy  that,  al- 
though there  was  fresh  water  in  it,  we  could  not 
separate  it  from  the  sand.  He  took  that  same 
reed,  tied  a  thickness  or  two  of  woollen  cloth 
around  the  end,  buried  that  end  in  the  sand,  and 
then  sucked  the  pure  water  through  it.  In  the 
same  way  he  used  it  as  a  filter,  when  the  water 
was  full  of  wiggle-tails,  or  full  of  mud  or  moss." 

"  It  is  a  wonderful  reed,'*  said  Thompson, 
stretching  his  eyes  wide,  as  if  in  great  admira- 
tion, "  and  some  of  these  days  I  think  I  shall  get 
it  and  put  it  to  another  wonderful  use,  as  the  stem 
of  my  pipe.'' 

"Pipe-stem!"  said  Simpson,  "I'm  a-wantin' 
one  na-ow,"  and  he  stretched  out  his  hand  and 
clutched  at  it,  but  his  motion  was  not  quick 
enough  for  the  nimble  boy,  who  suddenly  with- 
drew himself  beyond  reach,  and  with  a  murmured 
"  Catch  me  first,"  went  to  sip  his  tea  at  another 
part  of  the  semi-circle. 

They  thus  amused  themselves  until  nine  o'clock, 
when  Tomkins  ordered  the  men  to  quarters,  soon 
after  which  every  man,  except  the  sentinel,  was 
wrapped  in  his  blanket,  and  most  of  them  wrapped 
also  in  slumber;  though  several  were  to  be  ob- 


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54  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

served  tossing  restlessly  about,  being  kept  awake 
long  after  a  soldier's  hours  by  the  combined  in- 
fluences of  moonlight  and  green  tea,  co-operating 
with  the  eflfects  of  the  preceding  merriment. 


CHAPTER    VL 

SCOUTWG  AND  FISHING— A  PROPOSITION 

ARLY  next  morning,  when  the  men  had 
gathered  around  their  fire,  in  prepara- 
tion for  breakfast,  they  were  perplexed 
at  the  non-appearance  of  Jones  and 
Wildcat.  No  one  could  tell  how,  when,  or  why 
they  had  so  unceremoniously  taken  their  depart- 
ure. Simpson,  who  was  the  last  on  guard  duty, 
said  that  just  at  daybreak,  when  his  face  was 
turned  toward  the  sea,  he  heard  the  hollow  tread 
of  some  one  walkings  but  he  saw  nobody,  and 
had  no  suspicion  that  any  one  w  ished  to  desert. 
Indeed,  no  one  supposed  that  either  of  the  missing 
ones  were  guilty  of  desertion,  for  Jones  was  too 
good  a  soldier  to  think  of  it,  and  for  Wildcat 
tliere  was  no  motive.  While  they  were  engaged  in 
discussing  the  probabilities  of  the  case,  they  saw  the 
two  emerge  from  a  little  recess  in  the  cove,  each 
bringing  a  mess  of  delightful-looking  fish,  sheep- 
head,  whiting,  and  cavally,  strung  by  their  gills  on 
a  stalk  of  marsh-grass,  knotted  at  one  end. 

Wildcat  came  with  his  to  Dr.  Gordon,  and  pre- 


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MAROONER'S  ISL A ND.  55 

scnted  them  with  a  look  and  manner  of  undoubt- 
ing  satisfaction.  Jones  brought  his  to  Tomkins, 
whose  brow  was  somewhat  clouded,  and  said  to 
him  in  a  free  and  easy  way,  betokening  a  clear 
conscience,  "  I  was  sorry.  Sergeant,  to  go  off  with- 
out asking  leave,  but  you  were  all  asleep,  and  I 
concluded,  as  we  were  not  on  strict  duty,  and  I 
was  certain  of  doing  what  you  all  would  like, 
that  it  was  best  to  take  leave  first,  and  ask  for  it 
afterward,  and  I  shall  feel  much  obliged  if  you 
and  the  Captain  here"  (looking  at  Dr.  Gordon) 
"  will  grant  it  to  me  now." 

"  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,"  said  Dr.  Gordon, 
"  you  have  it  from  the  time  you  left." 

"  It  was  not  soldierly,"  Tomkins  rather  sternly 
replied,  "  to  go  off  without  leave,  and  I  hope  none 
of  the  men  will  do  the  like  again.  But  as  no 
harm  was  done  this  time,  we  will  let  it  pass." 

The  fine  mess  of  fresh-looking  fish  excited  Dr. 
Gordon's  admiration,  and  he  remarked  it  was  a 
great  pity  they  had  not  been  brought  a  few  min- 
utes earlier,  as  they  would  have  made  a  pleasant 
addition  to  the  breakfast  of  the  men. 

^*  If  you  will  allow  me  ten  minutes'  time,"  said 
Jones,  "  you  will  not  say  that  they  have  come  too 
late." 

The  Doctor  and  Tomkins  exchanged  looks, 
and  the  latter  answered  — 

"  We  will  give  you  a  trial.     But  you  must  not 


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56  MAROONER'S    ISLAND, 

neglect  your  own  breakfast,  for  we  are  almost 
ready  to  sail." 

Jones  gave  a  nod  of  invitation  to  the  others, 
who  followed  him  to  the  fire,  where  he  distributed 
the  fish  among  them,  selecting  several  of  the 
finest,  which  he  wrapped  in  the  green  leaves  of 
the  palmetto,  and  thrust  fluttering  under  the  em- 
bers. In  a  very  few  minutes  he  took  them  out, 
put  them  on  a  clean  palmetto  leaf,  stripped  off 
their  skin  and  the  scales  attached,  skilfully  sepa- 
rated from  the  bones  the  white  flesh,  which  he 
transferred  to  a  hot  plate,  and  bore  smoking  and 
steaming  to  be  enjoyed  by  Dr.  Gordon,  who  pro- 
nounced the  cookery  capital. 

Just  before  the  tent  was  taken  down,  prepara- 
tory to  embarking,  Wildcat  came  to  Dr.  Gordon, 
who  was  alone,  and  said, — 

"Jones  and  Wildcat  been  on  a  scout.  Tell 
Tomkins  call  Jones  and  hear  what  he  say." 

Dr.  Gordon  hesitated  a  moment,  when  Wildcat 
earnestly  reiterated, — 

"  Call  Tomkins.     Moccasin  too  near." 

Tomkins  came,  as  requested,  and  summoned 
Jones,  who,  as  soon  as  he  was  freed  from  the  pres- 
ence of  the  other  men,  went  on  to  say,  "  Sergeant, 
I  had  another  object  besides  fishing,  in  going  out 
this  morning.  Just  at  tattoo  last  night.  Wildcat 
came  and  whispered  in  my  ear,  ^  Eestachattay  * 
in  the  bush.*  I  asked  him  why  he  thought  so. 
♦Red  man. 


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MAROONER' S  ISLAND.  57. 

He  pulled  me  along  to  the  edge  of  yon  cedar- 
thicket,  where  we  heard  something  moving  off 
very  slowly  and  softly.  I  told  him  to  say  noth- 
ing about  it  to  the  men,  but  to  join  me  at  day- 
break this  morning,  when  we  would  kill  two 
birds  with  one  stone,  by  going  both  a-scouting 
and  a-fishing.  As  soon  as  it  was  light,  we  went 
to  the  spot  where  the  sounds  had  come  from,  and 
saw  there  the  print  of  two  pairs  of  moccasins  in 
the  sand  not  forty  steps  from  our  fire/' 

"Did  you  follow  the  trail?''  asked  Tomkins 
hastily. 

"I  did,"  Jones  replied.  "It  came  from  the 
south,  and  it  ended  on  the  beach,  where  the  per- 
sons seem  to  have  gone  off  in  a  canoe." 

"  How  do  you  know  they  did  not  go  along  the 
beach  in  the  shallow  of  the  tide-water?"  inquired 
Tomkins. 

"Because  I  followed  the  beach  to  a  muddy 
creek,  and  saw  no  signs  of  a  trail  coming  out. 
The  persons  must  either  have  gone  off  in  a  canoe 
or  taken  to  the  water." 

Tomkins  looked  grave.  "I  will  go  and  see 
for  myself.  Jones,  you  may  return  to  the  com- 
pany ;  but  say  nothing  to  them  about  this.  Doc- 
tor, can  you  spare  Wildcat  for  a  little  while,  to 
go  with  me?" 

"Certainly,"  replied  the  Doctor,  "and  go  my- 
self, too,  if  you  have  no  objection." 


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68  MAROONER' S  ISLAND, 

On  arriving  at  the  ground  and  looking  about, 
Dr.  Gordon  could  not  but  admire  the  ease  and 
precision  with  which  the  keen  eyes  of  Tomkins 
and  Wildcat  enabled  them,  not  only  to  discover 
human  footprints  in  the  soil,  where  to  his  unprac- 
tised sight  there  was  scarcely  a  visible  impression, 
but  also  to  distinguish  the  tracks  from  each  other 
by  their  difference  in*  size  and  shape,  and  also  to 
decide  how  many  hours  had  elapsed  since  they 
were  left.  As  he  was  in  the  act  of  making  some 
remark  upon  the  subject,  an  expressive  Indian 
grunt  from  Wildcat,  (for  which  we  have  no  suit- 
able spelling  unless  it  be  Ugh  !  or  Umph  !)  called 
their  attention,  and  they  saw  him  bending  over 
an  impression  in  the  sand,  which  Tomkins  in- 
stantly recognized  as  the  mark  lejft  by  the  butt 
of  a  rifle. 

The  barge  was  by  this  time  ready  for  sailing ; 
and  when  Dr.  Gordon  and  Tomkins,  on  their  re  • 
turn,  came  within  ear-shot  of  the  conversation 
there,  they  could  scarcely  avoid  laughing  to  learn 
the  device  of  Jones  for  averting  the  suspicions 
of  the  men.  He  had  given  them  a  very  interest- 
ing account  of  the  curious  object  which  the  two 
superiors  had  gone  out,  under  Wildcat's  guidance, 
to  examine,  namely,  the  skulls  of  two  large  bucks 
that  had  engaged  in  a  fight  in  which  their  horns 
had  become  inextricably  locked,  and  they  had, 
consequently,  perished   from  starvation,   or  had 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  59 

been  drowned  —  a  fact  in  natural  history  that 
does  sometimes  occur,  but  which,  on  the  present 
occasion,  had  its  existence  only  in  the  fertile  fency 
of  the  narrator. 

The  lively  conversation  with  which  the  voyage 
of  that  morning  commenced,  and  which  Dr.  Gor- 
don and  Tomkins  not  only  permitted  but  en- 
couraged, from  policy,  began  to  flag  in  the 
course  of  an  hour;  and  Dr.  Gordon,  who  was 
ever  on  the  alert  for  opportunities  to  make  the 
time  of  the  men  pass  pleasantly  and  usefully,  pro- 
posed that  they  should  relieve  the  tedium  of  the 
voyage,  and  at  the  same  time  increase  their  mutual 
acquaintance,  by  each  giving  to  the  company  so 
much  of  his  private  history  as  he  felt  perfectly 
willing  to  do. 

"We  always  feel  more  interest  in  those  we 
know  than  in  those  we  do  not  know,"  said  he. 
"Indeed,  an  intimate  knowledge  makes  us  feel 
sometimes  almost  akin.'' 

In  making  this  remark  he  observed  an  ex- 
pression of  pleasure  and  at  the  same  time  of  un- 
easiness overspread  the  countenances  of  most  of 
his  auditors,  and  divining  the  reason,  he  con- 
tinued,— 

"  In  the  history  of  all  persons  there  are  portions 
which  they  prefer  to  keep  to  themselves.  But  there 
is  much  besides  of  common  interest,  especially  that 
which  contains  useful  information,  sliowing  how 


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60  '  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

to  help  one's  self  or  to  help  others  in  a  time  of 
need.  No  doubt  every  one  present  sees  much  in 
his  own  life  which  interests  himself;  and  he  may 
set  down  as  a  good  general  rule  that  whatever 
interests  himself  will  interest  others  also." 

This  piece  of  philosophy  brought  a  smile  to  the 
faces  of  the  men.  They  evidently  assented  to  its 
truth,  and  no  doubt  they  reflected  that,  coming 
together  as  they  did  from  such  distant  parts,  and 
having  had  such  different  experiences  in  life,  there 
would  be  some  rare  scenes  presented  in  the  ac- 
counts to  be  given. 

"  I  do  not,  by  any  means,  insist  upon  it,"  he 
continued.  "  I  only  propose  it.  Suppose,  now, 
that  as  we  quietly  sail,  you  all  talk  over  the  mat- 
ter among  yourselves,  and  let  me  know  the  result 
when  you  are  ready." 

"I  am  ready  with  my  say,  na-ow,"  said  the 
sombre-hued  and  drawling  Simpson. 

*' And  what  is  that?"  inquired  the  Doctor. 

^*  That  I  never  had  no  eddication,"  he  replied. 
"  And  though  I  am  willing  to  tell  of  what  I  have 
seen  and  heern,  I  hain't  never  seen  or  heern  no- 
thing that  I  think  anybody  would  care  to  hear 
about." 

"  I  think  you  speak  of  yourself  more  disparag- 
ingly than  you  have  a  right  to  do,"  said  J)r. 
Gordon.  "Will  you  allow  me  to  ask  a  question  or 
two?" 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  Gl 

"  Yes,  sir,  to  be  sure/'  was  the  answer. 

"  Well,  where  were  you  born  and  raised?'* 

"  I  was  born  on  Kiokee  Creek,  in  Columby 
County,  Georgy,"  Simpson  answered  ;  "and  when 
I  was  a  boy,  I  lived  at  Wolfskin,  not  far  from  the 
Cherokee  Corner;  but  as  for  raisin',  I  wasn't 
raised  nowhar ;  I  jest  growed  up  so." 

"  And  who  were  your  parents  ? "  Dr.  Gordon 
inquired. 

"My  father  was  a  preacher,"  Simpson  re- 
sponded. "And  as  for  my  mother,  though  she 
was  an  oncommon  fine-look  in'  ooman,  nobody 
never  knowed  her  name,  for  she  was  stole  from 
home  when  she  was  a  baby,  and  she  lived  among 
the  Injins  tell  she  was  about  sixteen  ye'r  old, 
when  my  father  found  her  thar  and  married  her." 

"Really,  I  feel  interested  in  your  story,  al- 
ready," said  Dr.  Gordon.  "  But  allow  me  to  ask 
a  question  or  two  more.  You  say  your  father 
was  a  preacher;  of  what  denomination  was  he?" 

At  this  question  Simpson  stared,  not  being  able 
to  understand  what  the  word  "denomination" 
meant.  His  questioner  enlightened  him  by  ask- 
ing, "What  was  his  church?"  to  which  Simpson 
replied, — 

' "  Oh !  he  was  a  Baptist — an  Old-side — a  Prim- 
ity — (Primitive)  —  a  Hard  Shdl — a  Two-Seed J^ 

The  listeners  could  scarcely  avoid  a  smile,  for 
although  the  very  large  and  respectable  denomina- 


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62  MAROONEB'S  ISLAND. 

tion  designated  by  the  general  title  was,  of  course, 
known  to  all,  it  was  evident  that  the  load  of  titles 
just  given  was  intended  to  point  out  and  dignify 
some  very  small  concern.  Tomkins  looked  for  an 
explanation  to  Dr.  Gordon,  who  replied  in  a  sub- 
dued voice, — 

"  The  Hard  Shells,  as  they  are  called  in  bur- 
lesque, or  the  Old  Sides,  or  Primitives,  as  they 
call  themselves,  are  that  part  of  the  great  Bap- 
tist family  celebrated  in  Georgia  for  their  opposi- 
tion to  Sunday-schools,  missions  to  the  heathen. 
Theological  Seminaries,  and  religious  education 
generally,  for  which  sake  they  refuse  fellowship 
with  the  modernized  and  more  active  brethren  of 
the  church  at  large.  They  occupy  a  very  large 
part  of  our  piney  woods,  and  other  dark  corners 
of  the  State.  The  Two-Seed  Baptists,  of  whom  I 
believe  there  are  few — at  least  I  have  never  met 
more  than  two  or  three  of  them — are  the  extreme 
wing  of  this  party,  and  are  remarkable  for  nothing 
except  for  certain  bigoted  notions,  the  result  of 
ignorance,  concerning  the  ^Hwo  seeds,^^  between 
which  they  suppose  the  whole  family  of  mankind 
to  be  divided  —  the  good  seed  and  the  bad."  * 

With  this  explanation,  Tomkins  looked  towards 
Simpson  with  a  compassion  which  he  should  not 
otherwise  have  felt,  for  he  perceived  that  many  of 

*  Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  above  dark  picture  dates 
from  the  year  1831  —  backward 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  G3 

the  poor  felloVs  faults  must  have  been,  to  a  great 
extent,  the  result  of  the  influences  under  which 
his  early  days  had  been  spent.  This  was  soon 
raade  manifest  by  the  question  next  addressed  to 
him. 

"  You  remarked  at  the  outset  that  you  had  no 
education,"  said  Dr.  Gordon.  "  Do  you  mean  to 
say  by  this  that  you  never  went  to  school  at  all, 
and  that  your  parents  did  nothing  to  instruct 
you?" 

"Well,  now,  you  see,"  he  replied,  ^Hhe  only 
eddication  my  mother  had  for  herself  was  what 
she  got  in  an  Injin's  lodge,  and  as  for  my  father, 
I  believe  he  only  knowed  enough  to  spell  out  his 
text  in  the  Bible  when  he  went  to  preach,  and  to 
line  out  the  hymea  for  singing.  The  only  school 
in  my  neighborhood,  when  I  was  a  boy,  was  kept 
by  an  Englishman  named  Gunter.  He  teachcd 
about  half  of  one  winter,  and  I  went  to  him  and 
larnt  finely,  he  said,  as  far  as  b-a-g,  bag,  c-a-g, 
cag.  But  he  drunk  pretty  hard,  and  did  more 
whipping  than  teaching,  and  so  we  all  quit  his 
school.  I  remember  that,  of  cold  days,  when  our 
fire-wood  was  scace,  he  used  to  make  us  join 
hands  in  a  ring,  and  run  around,  and  he  would 
follow  us  up  with  a  switch,  and  laugh  and  holla, 
and  hurry  us  around  with  the  awful  lest  sort  of 
licks.  That  was  all  the  eddication  I  had.  I  don't 
think  it  was  much." 


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6i  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

While  this  conversation  was  in  progress  near 
the  stern,  (for  Simpson  was  next  to  the  stroke-oar,) 
there  was  kept  up  a  quiet  side-talk  among  the 
others,  which  was  concluded  by  the  appointing  of 
Wheeler  to  say  to  Dr.  Gordon  that  his  proposi- 
tion met  the  approval  of  all,  unless  it  might  be 
of  Simpson. 

"And  I'd  be  mighty  proud  to  jine  in  it  too," 
he  quickly  responded,  "  sept  that  it  oneases  me  so 
to  think  how  little  I  've  got  to  say." 

"  Why,  my  good  fellow,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "  you 
have  interested  the  whole  boat's  crew  already  in 
trying  to  prove  that  you  have  nothing  to  say.  I'll 
warrant  there  is  not  a  person  aboard  but  wishes 
to  hear  more." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Simpson,  half  pleased,  half 
reluctant,  "  ef  that 's  what  you  want,  I  've  got 
plenty  more  behind  and  will  give  it,  sich  as  it  is." 

"Since  it  is  settled  that  each  shall  give  some 
account  of  himself,"  continued  the  Doctor,  "  there 
is  one  thing  more  to  be  agreed  upon,  and  that  is, 
the  order  in  which  the  persons  shall  be  called  for. 
Shall  it  be  alphabetically,  or  by  age  ?  " 

"  I  move  it  be  by  age,  beginning  at  the  young- 
est," said  Thompson,  looking  mischievously  at 
Wildcat,  who  during  the  past  few  minutes  had 
appeared  much  excited,  and  who  had  uttered  some 
imploring  words  to  Jones  about  having  him  ex- 
cused, and  who  now  nervously  ejaculated,  — 

"  Wildcat  can't  talk  white  man's  talk." 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  65 

"  But  he  can  talk  through  a  linkster,"*  argued 
Thompson,  "  and  there  is  no  better  sense-carrier 
for  Muscogee  than  the  Sargeant  there,  or  than 
Simpson.  I  should  like,  above  all  things,  to  hear 
a  real  Injin  story." 

"I  hope  Wildcat  will  be  excused,  unless  he 
chooses  to  unite,"  said  Tomkins.  The  poor  boy 
turned  towards  his  unexpected  advocate  a  look  of 
unmistakable  gratitude,  and  with  an  almost  laugh 
of  pleasure  said,  in  his  own  language, — 

"  Enk-li-tum-ma-hitz-chay !  "f 

"Now,''  said  Jones,  looking  maliciously  at 
Thompson,  "I,  too,  vote  that  the  order  go  by 
age.  But  I  think  that  the  first  person  in  this  or- 
der to  be  called  upon  is  Thompson ;  for,  although 
Wildcat  came  here  from  'tother  world  about  thir- 
teen or  fourteen  years  ago,  Thompson  came  here 
from  Ireland  only  last  year.  He  may  be  old  as  a 
man — he  looks  as  if  he  were — but,  as  a  country- 
man, he  is  the  youngest  of  the  crowd.  I  hope  he 
will  be  called  upon  first." 

"  I  am  ready  to  obey  orders  when  they  come* 
from  the  right  mouth,"  Thompson  retorted ;  "  but 
I  think  it  is  only  fair  that  Simpson,  who  began 
his  story  first,  should  end  it  first." 

*  Linkster,  though  not  found  in  our  dictionaries,  is  a  word 
in  common  use  in  many  parts,  being^a  corruption  of  Unguis- 
ter,  (probably  from  the  Italian  linguista,  if  not  the  English 
linguist,)  and  means  m^«rpre/(?r. 

f  Good,  good  as  it  can  be. 

E 

Digitized  by  CjOOQIC 


66  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"Simpson!  Simpson!"  was  called  by  several 
voices. 

"  You  hear  the  call,  Simpson,"  said  Dr.  Gor- 
don. "  I  hope  you  will  answer  as  the  Turks  do, 
^  To  hear  is  to  obey.^  If  I  were  called  upon  for 
a  vote,  I  should  give  it  as  these  have  done,  for  I 
have  no  doubt  that  whatever  your  schooling  may 
have  been,  you  have  seen  some  rare  sights." 

"  And  so  I  have,"  he  answered,  while  his  brow 
relaxed  from  its  usual  half  scowl  as  he  listened  to 
the  call,  which  implied  a  flattering  interest  already 
in  his  life ;  "  and  I  '11  be  proud  to  tell  of  'em,  too, 
ajs  well  as  I  kin." 

"That  is  bravely  spoken,"  said  Dr.  Gordon. 
"  And  now,  the  only  rule  I  would  suggest  to  govern 
what  is  to  be  related  is,  that  each  one  shall  aim  in 
what  he  tells  to  give  us  something  useful  as  well 
as  entertaining." 

"  I  have  n't  much  in  that  line,"  Simpson  mod- 
estly replied;  "but  such  as  I  have  I'll  try  to 
give." 

0  With  that  he  began  and  narrated  a  story,  in 
which  he  committed  horrible  outrages  upon  all 
the  rules  of  language  and  of  elocution,  but  in 
which  he  gave  some  new  and  interesting  sketches 
of  rough  life.  This  story, -improved  somewhat  in 
style,  and  retaining  only  a  few  of  its  barbarous 
peculiarities,  will  be*found  recorded  in  the  follow- 
ing chapter. 


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CHAPTER    VII. 


SIMPSON'S  STORY. 


HEN  I  was  a  "  big  chunk  of  a  boy/^  my 
father  moved  from  Kiokee,  where  I  was 
born,  to  a  place  called  the  Cherokee 
Corner,  where  he  farmed  and  preached. 
My  time  was  divided  between  working  on  the 
farm  during  the  busy  season,  and  helping  in  a 
store  in  which  my  father  had  an  interest,  and 
which  kept  up  a  pretty  brisk  trade  with  the  neigh- 
bors and  the  Indians.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
the  Indians  were  liviTig  there  at  the  time,  for  that 
part  of  the  country  had  long  been  settled  by  the 
whites,  and  the  red  men  had  been  pushed  off  to- 
wards the  sunsetting ;  but  the  store  used  to  be  <a 
famous  place  of  trade  with  them  when  the  Chero- 
kee line  cornered  at  that  place,t  and  they  would 
oome  a  long  way  to  trade  at  their  old-time  stand. 
Some  of  the   Indians  came   as   much   on  my 


f  The  passages  in  this  story  of  Simpson's  marked  thus, 
are  historical,  or  rather  traditional,  being  parts  of  the  un- 
written history  of  the  places  and  parties  concerned. 

67 


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68  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

mother's  account,  as  on  account  of  trading,  for  she 
was  a  great  favon'^  with  a  large  part  of  the  tribe. 
You  remember  I  told  you  she  had  been  captured 
when  a  wee-babj,  and  had  lived  among  them  all 
her  life  until  she  married  my  father.  The  truth 
is,  the  "Injiu"  in  her  was  so  strong  that  to  the 
day  of  her  death  she  was  never  able  to  give  in  en- 
tirely to  the  ways  of  the  Unaykas,  as  she  called 
the  white  people ;  but  she  loved  her  red-skinned 
brothers  and  kinsfolks,  and  they  loved  her  to  the 
last.  The  name  they  had  for  her  showed  their 
feelings;  they  called  her  O-see-u,  which  is  the 
Cherokee  for  Good  morning,  because  her  face  al- 
ways brightened  on  seeing  them,  as  if  she  was 
saying  in  her  heart,  "  Welcome !  I  am  glad  to  see 
you."  And  the  name  she  gave  me  showed  her 
love  for  Indian  ways,  for  she  did  not  give  me  a 
Christian  name,  as  might  have  been  expected  of  a 
Christian  man's  wife,  but  one  in  Cherokee,  the 
same  as  if  I  were  to  belong  to  the  tribe.  People 
know  me  as  Joe  Simpson,  and  suppose  that  I  was 
named  Joseph  for  my  father ;  but  this  is  not  so ; 
the  name  my  mother  gave  me  was  Yonah-steeka, 
which  is  the  Cherokee  for  Little  Bear ;  and  my 
father,  who  thought  the  world  and  all  of  his  pretty 
wife,  but  who  did  not  "give  in''  to  all  her  ways, 
humored  her  so  far  as  to  tell  the  people  that  my 
name  was  Jonah-Stephen,  the  nearest  sound  in 
English  he  could  find  to  my  Cherokee  name; 
while,  for  short,  he  called  me  Joe,  after  himself. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  69 

I  do  not  think  that  my  mother's  love  for  her 
adopted  people  is  to  be  wondered  at,  when  her 
history  is  known.  She  was  brought  up  in  the 
family  of  an  old  warrior,  who,  after  her  parents 
had  been  killed,  had  taken  her  from  her  home  and 
adopted  her  as  his  own  child,  in  place  of  a  daugh- 
ter that  had  been  killed  by  the  whites.  He  was  a 
very  great  "brave;"  no  one  in  his  nation  stood 
higher,  or  could  stand  higher  "than  he.  I  will  tell 
you  why. 

As  long  ago  as  two  life-times, — maybe  more, — 
there  was  a  big  warf  between  the  Cherokees  and 
the  Coosas — these  are  the  same  that  are  called 
Creeks,  on  account  of  the  many  streams  that  per- 
vade their  country.f  The  Creeks,  who  wanted 
more  land,  tried  to  force  the  Cherokees  beyond 
the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  and  the  Cherokees 
who  loved  their  hunting-grounds,  and  the  graves 
of  their  fathers,  tried  to  keep  the  Coosas  back  to 
their  old  limits.  After  a  long  and  bloody  war,  in 
which  many  lives  had  been  lost,  and  the  Cherokees 
had  been  forced  almost  to  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  the 
Creeks  had  settled  as  far  as  the  Coosa-wattee  river, 
(Coosa-wattee  means  the  settling-place  of  the 
Coosas,)  it  was  agreed  by  solemn  oath  between  the 
parties  to  leave  the  question  in  dispute  to  be  set- 
tled by  a  fight  between  twelve  men  selected  from 
each  side.  If  the  Creeks  were  successful,  the 
Cherokees   were  to   give  up   all   their  huntiiig- 


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70  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

grounds  south  and  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Moun- 
tains ;  if  the  Cherokees  were  successful,  the  Creeks 
were  to  be  content  with  their  former  boundaries. 
The  place  selected  for  the  battle  was  a  mountain, 
which  has  a  level  top,  containing  about  forty  acres 
— a  beautiful  place  for  a  fight — away  up  above 
the  world.  There  they  met  and  fought,  those 
twenty-four  men,  while  all  the  rest  of  the  two  na- 
tions, assembled  on  that  high  table  land,  looked 
on  without  striking  a  blow.  Of  the  twenty-four 
men  who  went  into  the  fight,  only  one  came  out 
alive.  That  was  a  Cherokee,  my  mother's  adopted 
father.  The  Coosas  kept  their  word,  called  back 
their  warriors,  broke  up  their  settlement  at  Coosa- 
wattee,  and  established  the  boundaries  as  they 
were  before  the  war.  The  place  of  the  fight  keeps 
the  name  of  "  Blood  Mountain  '^  to  this  day  !  f 

This  old  warrior  had  three  sons,  one  of  whom, 
named  Yonah-steeka,  was  my  mother's  playmate 
when  she  was  a  child.  He  died  young.  The 
others  grew  to  be  men,  and  were  quite  famous  in 
their  day.  One  of  them  was  named  Nung-noh- 
hut-tar-hee,  (he  who  kills  the  enemy  in  his  own 
way,)  and  the  other  Kah-nung-da-ha-geh,  (the  one 
who  walks  on  the  mountain  ridge.)  These  men 
my  mother  taught  me  to  call  uncle ;  but  as  their 
names  were  too  long  to  be  pronounced  by  any  one 
except  a  Cherokee,  the  first  was  called  by  the 
white  people,  Way,  and  the  other  was  called  Ridge. 


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MAROQNER'S  ISLAND,  71 

My  uncle  Way  was  a  great  sportsman,  both  by 
land  and  water,  and  was  skilled  in  all  the  arts 
practised  by  his  people  for  taking  deer,  bears,  rac- 
coons and  wolves,  and  also  for  spearing  and  shoot- 
ing fish. 

My  uncle  Ridge  was  a  "medicine  man,^*  or 
doctor,  the  most  famous  in  his  tribe,  and  not  only 
did  people  come  to  him  to  be  cured  from  all  parts 
of  the  nation^  hut  many  also  from  the  white  set- 
tlements. 

Whenever  these  two  men  made  a  visit  to  the 
Comer,  they  would  ask  my  mother  to  let  me  re- 
turn with  them,  and  she  was  almost  as  ready  to 
consent  as  they  were  to  ask ;  and  I  would  go  and 
spend  one,  two,  or  even  three  weeks  at  a  time  at 
their  lodges,  living  just  as  they  lived,  and  enjoying 
myself  more  than  you  would  suppose  in  that  wild 
kind  of  life ;  and  when  I  returned  home,  nothing 
pleased  my  mother  more  than  to  hear  me  recount 
what  I  had  seen  and  done. 

It  seems  to  me,  now  I  look  back,  that  I  learned 
more  and  more  that  was  useful,  among  them,  than 
I  did  at  home.  May  be  this  was  because  I  did 
not  expect  it,  and  because  what  I  learned  at  home 
came  to  me  natural  like. 

Among  the  useful  things  I  learned  at  uncle 
Way's  were  two  in  one  day.  The  first  is  that 
clear  water  is  much  deeper  than  it  appears  to  be,  I 
was  in  a  canoe  with  him  and  a  son  of  his,  about 


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72  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

my  own  age,  spearing  fish.  There  was  a  fine  trout 
near  my  end  of  the  boat,  in  water  that  seemed  only- 
knee  deep.  I  begged  him  for  the  spear,  and  tried 
at  it,  leaning  over  the  side  of  the  boat  and  ex- 
pecting to  find  myself  supported  by  the  resting 
of  the  spear  upon  the  sandy  bottom.  I  missed 
the  fish,  however,  and  found  myself  soused  head 
and  ears,  in  water  beyond  my  depth.  My  uncle 
never  laughed  aloud,  he  was  too  much  of  an  In- 
dian for  that,  but  inwardly  he  laughed  as  heartily 
as  any  one,  and  when  I  was  floundering  in  the 
water,  I  saw  his  sides  shake  until  the  tears  came 
into  his  eyes.  The  other  thing  I  learned  was, 
that  in  shooting  at  an  object  under  water  you  must 
aim  much  lower  than  the  place  where  it  seems  to 
be — how  much  lower  is  to  be  learned  only  by 
practice,  or  by  seeing  how  much  a  spear  or  arrow 
is  bent  by  being  dipped  in  the  water. 

His  son  was  a  great  trapper  of  squirrels  and 
opossums,  oftentimes  bringing  home  six  or  eight 
from  his  traps  in  a  day ;  and  though  I  admired 
the  contrivance  by  which  he  did  this,  I  never 
could  bring  myself  to  practice  it.  He  would 
fasten  an  ear  of  corn  to  a  nicely  set  trigger  at  the 
end  of  a  rail,  and  just  at  the  place  where  the  ani- 
mal must  sit  to  nibble  he  suspended  a  thin  loop 
of  tough  wood,  attached  to  a  weight.  The  pulling 
or  nibbling  at  the  ear  let  fall  the  weight,  by  which 
the  poor  creature  was  squeezed  to  death  between 
the  loop  and  the  rail. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  73 

One  day  I  weirt  with  my  uncle  to  his  bear-trap 
when  it  had  caught  a  bear.  It  was  a  large,  hollow 
log,  inside  of  which  were  set  spikes  of  tough  woo<l, 
sharpened  and  arranged  so  that  although  it  was 
easy  for  a  bear  to  push  his  head  into  the  log,  he 
could  not  draw  it  back,  because  the  spikes  pressed 
close  behind  the  ears.  The  trap  was  baited  with 
wild  honey,  which  the  bear  could  smell  but  could 
never  reach.  On  the  same  plan  he  caught  wolves 
and  panthers,  baiting  with  a  piece  of  fresh  venison. 

But  what  amused  me  most  at  uncle  Way's,  al- 
though it  was  a  small  thing  of  its  kind,  was  his 
plan  for  catching  terrapins.  Whenever  they  were 
to  be  seen  in  any  number  floating  on  the  surface 
of  a  pond,  he  and  his  son  would  swim  or  wade 
towards  them,  pushing  a  screen  of  leafy  twigs  be- 
fore them  until  they  were  near  enough  to  grasp 
the  terrapin  by  one  of  its  outspread  legs,  and 
-secure  it  in  a  bag. 

My  other  uncle,  as  I  told  you.  Uncle  Eidge, 
was  a  great  "medicine-man.''  He  studied  no 
books,  and  learned  under  no  doctor.  He  followed 
his  own  head,  and  took  to  the  work  by  nature,  but 
he  would  sometimes  work  cures  in  which  the 
white  doctors  had  failed.  A  case  of  this  kind 
occurred  during  one  of  my  visits  to  him.  A  white 
man,  who  had  been  for  a  long  time  ailing  with  a 
dreadful  ulcer,  and  whose  life  the  doctors  des- 
paired of,  came  to  him  and  asked  if  his  sore  could 


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74  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

be  cured  ?  My  uncle  looked  at  it,  asked  various 
questions,  and  finally  answered, — 

"  Yes,  if  you  will  let  me  tie  you." 

"  I  will  let  you  do  anything  and  will  pay  you 
anything  you  ask,  if  you  will  only  cure  my  leg," 
the  man  said. 

"Very  well,"  my  uncle  answered;  "come  to- 
morrow as  soon  as  your  shadow  lies  your  own 
length  on  the  ground.  I  will  promise  to  cure 
you,  or  I  will  take  no  pay." 

The  man  came  next  day,  as  directed,  bringing 
with  him  a  friend,  and  found  my  uncle  seated  on 
a  log  by  a  fire,  on  which  was  a  pot  of  herbs  stew- 
ing in  deer's  tallow,  and  close  to  it  lay  a  piece  of 
iron,  with  one  end  in  the  coals.  Besides  these 
nothing  was  to  be  seen,  except  some  thongs  of 
deerskin.  Aft^r  allowing  him  to  rest,  my  uncle 
asked,  "Are  you  ready?"  and  he  answered, "  I  am." 

"You  consent  that  I  shall  tie  you,  and  do  what 
I  think  to  be  right?" 

"I  do." 

"  You  promise,  if  I  cure  you,  to  pay  me  twenty 
dollars?" 

"I  do." 

"Then  come  to  this  post  and  put  your  arms 
around  it." 

The  man  looked  a  little  pale,  but  he  did  as  di- 
rected, and  was  then  tied  fast,  hand,  foot  and  head, 
so  that  he  could  not  move,  nor  look  at  the  fire 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  75 

behind  him.  My  uncle  then  took  the  iron  which 
was  heated  not  quite  red  hot,  came  softly  up  and 
applied  it  to  the  ulcer.  The  poor  fellow  roared 
and  tried  to  break  loose,  but  in  vain.  My  uncle 
kept  moving  the  hot  iron  up  and  down  and  around 
the  ailing  part,  until  it  was  burnt  as  deep  and  as 
far  as  it  was  sore.  He  then  poured  on  some  cold 
water  to  allay  the  pain,  and  anointed  the  part 
with  a  salve  which  had  been  prepared,  and  said, 
as  he  loosed  the  man, — 

"  I  did  not  know  what  the  sore  was  yesterday ; 
but  it  is  a  bum  to-day,  and  I  can  cure  a  burn  J'  f 

In  the  course  of  a  week  or  ten  days  the  man 
felt  so  well  that  he  paid  his  twenty  dollars  and 
returned  home. 

I  learned  many  other  useful  things  from  my 
uncle  Ridge  in  the  way  of  wild  woods  physic ;  how 
to  cure  chill  and  fever,  by  pills  of  black  spider's 
web;  how  to  stop  a  trouble  of  the  bowels  by 
chewing  the  leaves  of  the  sweet-gum,*  or  a  small 
piece  of  a  green  persimmon,  and  how  to  stop  a 
heart-burn  by  chewing  the  young  buds  of  the  pine, 
and  other  things  of  the  sort,  which  you  would  tire 
to  hear  of.  There  was  one"  thing  I  learned,  how- 
ever, not  in  his  line — his  way  of  managing  a  balky 
horse.  My  uncle's  wife  was  a  good  farmer.  The 
Indian  men,  you  know,  never  work;  they  will 
fight,  and  hunt,  and  trap,  and  spear  fish,  and  doc- 

*  Known  to  botanists  as  Liquid  Amber. 


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76  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

tor  people,  and  manage  generally,  but  anything 
like  work,  and  bearing  burdens,  they  leave  to  the 
women.  Well,  my  aunt  had  a  beautiful  pony 
that  would  do  anything  except  drawing  a  cart. 
One  day  it  was  necessary  that  several  loads  of 
corn  should  be  brought  from  the  field,  and  the 
pony  refused  to  pull.  My  aunt  tried  coaxing,  and 
then  switching,  but  in  vain.  Then  she  applied  to 
her  husband.  He  came  out  and  I  came  with  him 
to  see  what  was  to  be  done.  Th.e  pony  had  a  stub- 
born and  mulish  look.  His  ears  were  laid  back, 
and  his  whole  manner  said,  as  plainly  as  pony 
could  say,  You  may  do  what  you  please,  but  I 
will  not  pull  one  step.  The  first  thing  my  uncle 
did  was  to  quiet  him  by  a  little  patting  and  gen- 
tling, and  by  whispering  a  word  or  two  in  his  ear. 
Failing  in  this,  he  applied  three  or  four  tremen- 
dous whacks  with  a  switch.  But  this  only  made 
matters  worse.  He  then  put  in  each  ear  a  corn- 
cob, and  tied  it  tight  around  with  a  string.  This ' 
stopping  of  the  ear  made  such  a  buzzing  and  con- 
fusing sound  that  the  pony  hauled  one  load  with- 
out diflBculty,  but  refused  to  haul  any  more.  My 
uncle  then  locked  the  wheels  so  they  could  not  be 
turned,  fastened  the  pony  by  a  halter  to  the  tree, 
and  left  him  in  the  shafts  all  night,  without  food 
or  water.  The  next  morning  there  was  no  gentler 
pony  to  be  found,  nor  one  more  willing  to  do  his 
duty.     He  never  was  known  to  balk  again.     My 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  77 

uncle  said  that  if  ever  there  was  another  balk  he 
should  try  the  effect  of  some  unpleasant  physic. 

Before  I  was  quite  grown  my  good  mother  died, 
and  I  happened  to  a  great  misfortune.  While  on 
a  visit  to  the  Indian  nation,  there  arose  a  quarrel 
between  me  and  the  son  of  a  chief,  and  I  hurt  him 
so  badly  that  he  was  likely  to  die.  I  returned 
home  the  next  day,  and  it  was  not  long  before  a 
message  came  that  made  me  go  still  further.  It 
was  the  picture  of  a  fish-spear,  painted  red,  and 
under  it  the  word  "  Conagatee.*'  The  fish-spear 
was  the  sign  of  my  uncle  Way;  the  red  paint 
meant  danger ;  and  the  word  "  Conagatee,"  (which 
lie  had  caused  the  trader  who  brought  me  the  pic- 
ture to  write,)  was  the  Cherokee  for  "  Go  away ! " 
From  these  hints  I  learned  that  the  chief's  son 
was  dead,  and  there  was  no  time  to  lose,  for  an 
Indian  never  forgives.  I,  therefore,  made  some 
excuse  to  my  father  for  visiting  some  of  his  kin- 
folks  in  South  Carolina,  and  there  I  staid  until  he 
wrote  me  word  that  he  had  removed  from  the 
Cherokee  Corner  to  the  western  border  of  the  white 
settlement,  near  the  Coosas,  whom  you  call  Creeks. 

As  soon  as  I  was  of  age,  my  father  gave  me  a 
pony  and  a  little  money.  I  bought  some  trinkets 
and  went  among  the  Coosas  on  a  trading  expedi- 
tion. In  this  I  succeeded  so  well  that  I  was  soon 
able  to  enlarge  my  business.  Money  came  in  upon 
me  very  fast,  for  I  had  no  love  for  the  Coosas,  and 


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78  MAROONER' S  ISLAND. 

did  not  hesitate  to  cheat  them  on  all  occasions,  be- 
cause they  were  themselves  such  cheats  and  liars. 
They  had  no  mercy  on  a  white  man,  and  it  was  not 
fair  to  expect  a  white  man  to  have  mercy  on  them. 
You  may  judge  of  what  I  say  when  I  mention  a 
few  facts. 

I  once  called  upon  a  very  old  Indian  woman 
to  learn  her  age.,  She  was  quite  free-spoken,  and 
seemed  ready  to  tell  anything  I  asked  her  about. 
As  for  her  age,  she  said  that  she  had  seen  so  many 
"moons"  she  had  long  stopped  counting  them, 
for  the  want  of  numbers.  This  did  not  surprise 
me,  because  I  knew  that  most  Creeks  could  not 
count  beyond  Parli-parlin  (ten  tens).  But  when 
I  asked  her  to  tell  me  something  that  she  recol- 
lected in  early  life — some  war,  some  work,  some- 
thing that  happened — she  told  me  with  solemn 
face,  and  tried  to  make  me  believe  that  she  recol- 
lected the  time  when  her  people  first  dug  out  the 
channel  of  the  Chattahoochee  river  J^ 

About  five  or  six  years  ago  a  white  man  (who 
lives  near  that  little  town  I  hear  people  begin  to 
talk  about  by  the  name  of  Columbus,)  went  over 
the  river  to  attend  a  big  gathering  at  a  ball-play. 
He  rode  a  horse  that  he  kept  purposely  very  poor- 
looking,  but  which  was  nevertheless  one  of  the 

*  This  incident  and  the  one  next  succeeding  are  still  re- 
lated in  Columbus,  Ga.,  as  part  of  the  early  history  of  the 
neighborhood.     The  "little  town"  of  1830  is  now  a  city. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  79 

swiftest  nags  of  its  size.  His  object  was  to  draw 
some  rich  red-skin  into  a  race  on  a  large  bet,  and 
by  this  means  to  win  back  some  of  the  money  that 
he  had  lost  in  former  bets  with  them.  He  picked 
his  man,  persuaded  him  into  a  race,  and  bantered 
him  to  a  very  high  bet.  They  went  to  the  ground, 
stationed  the  judges  and  started.  Barnet,  for  that 
was  the  white  man's  name,  was  fond  of  fun  as 
well  as  of  money,  and  was  so  confident  of  tlie 
speed  of  his  horse  that  he  allowed  the  Indian  some 
distance  the  start,  in  order  to  enjoy  seeing  him  dig 
into  his  pony's  ribs  and  try  to  keep  ahead.  At 
the  close  of  the  race  he  let  out  his  horse  to  full 
speed  and  came  out  far  in  advance. 

"  Now,''  says  he,  turning  with  a  laugh  to  his 
competitor,  "  pay  me  your  bet." 

"  Umph ! "  says  the  other,  "  will  pay  you  when 
judge  say  so." 

"  What's  the  use  of  the  judge  saying  anything  ?" 
Barnet  asked.  "Didn't  I  win  the  race?" 

"  Will  pay  when  judge  say  so,"  the  other  re- 
peated. 

"  But  did  I  not  give  you  the  start,  and  then 
come  out  ahead  ?"  Barnet  asked  again. 

The  Indian  still  said,  "  Will  pay  when  judge 
say  so." 

The  matter  was  then  referred  to  the  judges. 
They  went  off  to  themselves  and  soon  returned, 
saying — "  Injin  beat  J' 


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80  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

Barnet  was  amazed  at  their  impudence,  and 
asked : 

"  Did  I  not  give  him  the  start?'' 

"Yes." 

"  And  did  I  not  come  out  ahead  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"  How  then  can  you  say  that  he  beat  ?" 

"  Injin  beat  mo.s^,"  they  answered. 

"Beat  most!    What  do  you  mean?" 

"  White  man  beat  at  the  two  ends ;  Indian  beat 
in  the  middle." 

And  with  this  decision  they  put  the  stakes  into 
the  Indian's  hands.  Barnet  returned  home  a 
wiser  man  than  he  came.  He  never,  after  that, 
trusted  a  Coosa. 

And  I  had  a  touch  of  that  experience  once  my- 
self. While  I  was  keeping  store  near  where 
Columbus  is  growing  up,  a  young  hunter,  who  had 
often  traded  with  me,  and  w^o  had  been  as  fair  as 
any  Coosa  is  known  to  be,  came  in,  offering  to 
purchase  a  few  articles,  and  to  pay  for  them  with 
a  very  fat  deer  which  he  said  he  had  just  killed, 
and  which  he  offered  very  low,  on  condition  that 
I  should  send  for  it.  I  had  no  misgiving  in  the 
case,  for  I  knew  the  young  man,  and  knew  the 
very  spot  where  he  reported  the  deer  to  be  hang- 
ing, (on  a  sapling,  near  a  large  poplar,  the  other 
side  of  a  pond,  not  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off,)  and 
moreover  I  had  heard  the  report  of  a  rifle  in  that 
direction  only  a  few  minutes  before  he  came  in. 


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MAROONER'8  ISLAND.  81 

He  got  what  he  asked  for  and  went  off.  I  did 
not  see  him  again  for  months,  nor  did  I  ever  see 
the  deer.  A  long  time  afterwards  he  came  to  my 
store  to  trade,  looking  as  innocent  as  if  he  had 
never  done  me  a  wrong.  I  immediately  ordered 
him  off,  and  forbade  his  coming  to  me  any  more. 

^^  What  for?"  said  he,  looking  mightily  taken 
by  surprise. 

I  answered :  "  For  lying  about  that  deer  when 
you  were  last  here.  There  was  not  a  word  of 
truth  in  what  you  said." 

"  White  man  wrong.  Did  he  look  where  Indian 
tell  him?" 

"I  did." 

"  And  did  not  find  any  pond?  "  he  asked. 

"  Pond  ?  Of  course  I  did.  I  knew  of  that  pond 
before,"  I  answered. 

"  Ah,  well,  that  is  one  true  I  tell.  •  And  white 
man  did  not  find  the  poplar?'^ 

"  Certainly  I  found  it.  I  knew  of  that  also 
before." 

"  Ah,  well,  that  is  two  true.  And  white  man 
did  not  find  the  deer  ?" 

"  No,  I  did  not ;  there  was  no  deer  there,  and 
had  not  been." 

"  Ah,  well,  that  is  one  lie.  Two  true  to  one  lie. 
But,"  said  he,  turning  to  me  with  a  laugh, 
*^  don't  you  think  that  two  true  to  one  lie  is  pretty 
good  for  Iniin?" 

F 


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82  MAROONER'S   ISLAND, 

I  am  bound,  however,  to  say  of  the  Coosas  that 
they  had  some  good  in  them,  as  well  as  much  evil. 
In  the  first  place,  they  are  a  very  modest  people — 
much  more  so  than  the  w^hites — for  in  all  my 
dealings  with  them  for  years,  I  seldom  saw  or 
heard  an  indecent  thing  in  men  or  women,  old  or 
young.  The  men  were  brave,  and  the  women  gen- 
erally correct  in  their  behavior.f  The  mothers, 
too,  were  real  mothers;  and  it  almost  won  my 
heart  to  them,  Coosas  though  they  were,  to  see,  as 
I  often  had  seen,  mothers  pale  with  hunger,  stag- 
gering as  they  carried  their  chubby  children,  that 
looked  as  if  they  had  never  known  what  hunger 
was.f  Both  men  and  women,  too,  were  very  hos- 
pita.ble.  If  ever  you  went  to  the  door  of  their 
wigwams,  you  were  asked  to  come  in ;  and  if  ever 
you  went  in,  you  were  bound  to  partake  of  their 
sof-kee.f  There  were  seldom  any  quarrels,  and 
such  as  arose  were  almost  always  made  up  at  their 
green-corn  dances,  at  which  time  it  was  customary 
for  all,  and  especially  for  those  who  had  quarrelled, 
to  meet  together  and  shake  hands  in  their  large 
council  room,  which  was  always  kept  so  dark  that 
they  could  not  look  into  each  othet-^s  eyes.  * 

After  1  had  traded  long  enough  among  these 
Indians  to  gather  a  pretty  little  property,  I  lost  it 
all  in  one  day  by  standing  security  for  a  fellow- 

*  Sof-kee  — hominy  made  of  pounded  corn. 


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MAROONER' S  ISLAND.  83 

trader.  I  would  have  commenced  business  again, 
and  gone  on  the  same  way  as  before,  but  I  liad 
nothing  to  start  with,  and,  more  than  this,  I  had 
so  offended  some  of  the  chiefs  that  it  was  not  safe 
for  me  to  remain  in  the  nation.  I  wandered  about 
the  country  for  some  time,  and  finally,  about  three 
years  ago,  enlisted  in  the  United  States  army, 
hoping  to  be  sent  out  west.  Instead  of  this,  how- 
ever, I  was  put  on  different  posts,  first  in  Charles- 
ton, then  in  Savannah,  and  now  here.  My  time 
will  be  out  next  month,  and  then  I  shall  be  a  free 
man,  but  somehow  I  feel  very  indifferent  to  it,  as 
if  my  freedom  were  hardly  worth  the  having. 

That's  my  story,  with  all  the  useful  things  I 
could  think  of  worth  the  telling. 


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CHAPTER   VI IL 

FISHING  FOE  SHEEPHEAD—A  CHASE  BY  WATER, 

ERY  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  in- 
teresting story/'  said  Dr.  Gordon  to 
Simpson,  when  he  had  concluded.  "  I 
doubt  not  that  every  person  aboard 
unites  with  me  in  saying  so."  He  stopped  and 
looked  around.  Tomkins  nodded  his  approval  as 
cordially  as  could  have  been  expected  from  one  of 
his  stiflF  habits  while  on  duty,  and  from  the  men 
there  came  a  general  murmur  of  assent.  The 
swarthy  face  of  the  narrator  almost  revealed  a 
blush  of  pleasure  on  learning  that  his  rough  re- 
hearsal had  met  with  such  unexpected  favor,  and 
he  stammered  out, — 

"  I  had  'nt  no  idee  that  I  'd  a  had  so  much  to 
say,  or  that  any  body  would  a-cared  to  a-heern  it." 
"Your  story  has  interested  us  all,"  said  the 
Doctor.  "  In  truth,"  he  continued,  "  every  person 
has  an  interesting  history,  if  he  only  knew  it,  and 
knew  how  to  tell  it ;  and  the  secret  of  making  it 
60  to  others  consists  in  presenting  those  portions 

84 

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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  85 

only  which  may  prove  instructive  or  entertaining, 
I  trust  that,  after  the  good  example  set  us  by 
Simpson,  no  one  will  hesitate  to  do  his  part,  and 
I  propose  that  we  call  for  a  story  from  some  one 
every  day.     But  who  is  to  come  next  ?  '^ 

That  point  had  been  already  settled,  for,  during 
the  recital  of  Simpson^s  story,  Jones  had  exchanged 
words  with  several  of  the  men,  and  now,  on  a  sly 
wink  from  him,  they  all  cried  out, — 

"  Thompson  I   Thompson  I '' 

"  Mr.  Thompson,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  in  a  serio- 
comic tone,  assumed  as  best  suiting  the  temper  of 
the  man,  "the  company  express  the  desire  tliat 
their  next  entertainment  shall  be  furnished  by  a 
son  of  'the  Green  Isle.'  It  is  their  hope  and 
expectation  that  you  will  honor  them  by  your 
response  to-morrow  about  this  time,  unless  it  is 
called  for  sooner.^' 

"The  honor  of  ould  Ireland  will  not  let  me 
say  nay,"  replied  Thompson,  "and  our  friend 
Backwoods  (nodding  towards  Simpson)  has  done 
so  much  better  than  he  expected,  or  than  we  either, 
that  I  must  say  I  feel  encouraged." 

"You  had  better  say  discouraged,"  Jones  added, 
in  a  teazing  spirit,  "  for  what  can  you  bring  us 
from  the  bojgs  of  Ireland  to  compare  with  what 
has  been  given  us  by  the  Georgia  cracker, ^^  * 

*  The  term  **  cracker"  is  a  derisive  epithet  that  has  been 
applied,  from  time  immemorial,  by  dwellers  upon  the  sca- 


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86  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

To  this  taunt  Thompson  retorted  by  some  al- 
lusion to  "  pitch,  t'yar,  and  turpentine/'  these 
being  the  staple  products  of  Jones'  native  State, 
North  Carolina,  and  "t'yar"  being  the  corrupt 
pronunciation  by  the  uneducated  of  that  State,  for 
the  word  "  tar." 

This  friendly  pass  of  arms  was  soon  interrupted 
by  Dr.  Gordon  saying  to  Jones,  — 

"  Do  give  us  some  little  account  of  your  fishing 
excursion  this  morning  ;  particularly  that  part  of 
it,"  he  added  with  a  smile,  "  which  occurred  after 
you  had  passed  the  locked  horns  of  the  deer." 

Jones'  eye  twinkled  at  this  allusion,  but  he  per- 
fectly commanded  his  countenance,  and  went  on 
to  say,  — 

**We  fished,  as  we  ordinarily  do,  from  shore. 
Here  is  my  fishing-tackle." 

He  drew  from  his  bosom  a  line  of  great  strength, 
but  of  delicate  proportions,  wrapped  into  an  oval 
mass  by  oblique  crossings  around  a  nicely  trimmed 
stick.  It  was  forty  or  fifty  yards  long,  and  was 
armed  at  its  lower  extremity  with  two  strongly 
built  hooks,  each  of  which  was  attached  by  a  snell 

board  of  Georgia  to  the  rough  denizens  of  the  piney-woods, 
and  afterward  to  all  other  backwoodsmen.  Its  origin  is 
obscure;  but  it  probably  originated  with  the  early  Scotch 
settlers,  in  whose  dialect  **a  cracker"  is  a  persou  who  talks 
boastingly ;  this  kind  of  talk  being  very  natural  to  the  sturdy 
eons  of  the  foicst,  to  avoid  being  overborne  by  the  preten- 
tious refinements  of  the  city. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  87 

of  more  delicate  line,  so  as  to  hang  about  a  hand^s 
breadth  apart  from  each  other,  and  from  the  sinker, 
which  last  was  a  wedge  of  lead,  several  ounces  in 
weight,  attached  to  the  extremity  of  the  line. 

"  You  know,"  said  he,  "  that  for  sheephead  we 
fish  in  about  four  feet  of  water,  next  the  bottom, 
and  that  on  this  shallow  shore  you  must  throw 
your  hook  ten  or  fifteen  yards  before  it  finds 
depth  enough.  The  fish,  however,  are  very  plenti- 
ful, and  you  do  not  have  to  wait  long  for  a  bite ; 
indeed,  I  hooked  my  first  fish  (the  same  you  ate 
for  breakfast  this  morning)  before  the  lead  reached 
bottom.'^ 

^^  You  seem  to  have  had  no  net  or  other  con- 
venience for  catching  shrimp;  I  should  like  to 
know  what  you  used  for  bait?"  Dr.  Gordon  in- 
quired. 

"  O,  as  for  bait,"  Jones  replied,  ^*  you  need  not 
be  very  particular,  for  however  shy  sheephead  may 
be  elsewhere,  they  are  so  tame  here,  and  so  plenti- 
ful, that  people  say  you  may  walk  along  shore  any 
morning,  and  hick  out  enough  for  breakfast.  But 
I  did  not  rely  upon  kicking  them  out.  I  used 
bait,  the  best  to  be  had,  barring  the  shrimps,  and 
that  was  black  fiddlers  *  and  clams.  I  filled  my 
pocket  with  fiddlers,  after  breaking  off  their  legs 

*  Fiddlers  are  a  small  species  of  crab,  seldom  an  inch 
long,  having  one  large  and  one  small  claw,  and  burrowing 
in  the  muddy  sand  of  our  salt-water  beaches. 


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88  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

and  claws,  and  the  clams  I  broke  open  and  cut 
into  pieces  suitable  for  bait.  The  bait  was  not 
the  best,  to  be  sure,  but  good  enough  to  bring  the 
two  strings  of  fish  you  saw  this  morning.  We 
were  fishing  not  over  half  an  hour.'^ 

Dr.  Gordon  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  in- 
telligence and  skill  of  the  man  that  he  said, — 

"  If  Sergeant  Tomkins  approve,  I  hereby  ap- 
point Mr.  Jones  fishing-master  for  the  rest  of  the 
excursion.^' 

Tomkins  readily  consented,  and  Jones  looked 
as  if  he  had  gained  a  pleasant  point  for  himself 
and  for  the  men. 

The  barge  continued  all  day  its  steady  cruise 
along  the  coast,  turning  its  bow  shorewards  when- 
ever there  was  a  possibility  of  the  lost  boat  being 
concealed  behind  any  of  the  points  of  marsh  or 
beach  that  marked  the  frequently  occurring  creeks 
and  inlets. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  they  wit- 
nessed quite  an  interesting  chase.  In  one  of 
those  intervals  of  perfect  stillness  which  often 
prevailed,  broken  only  by  the  measured  thump 
of  the  oars  against  the  thowl-pins,  Dr.  Gordon 
was  aroused  from  his  meditative  attitude  by  hear- 
ing a  sharp,  quick  call  from  Tomkins,  "  Look 
yonder ! ''  He  looked  in  the  direction  indicated 
by  Tomkins^  eye,  and  saw,  at  the  distance  of  less 
than  half  a  mile,  a  noble  buck,  with  fine  branch- 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  89 

ing  antlers,  making  for  a  precipitous  bluflF  of  about 
ten  feet  in  height.  His  head  and  tail  were  proudly 
erect,  and  he  was  moving  along  in  an  easy,  grace- 
ful lope,  while  not  a  hundred  yards  behind  him 
followed  three  dogs  in  hot  pursuit.  On  reaching 
the  bluff,  the  buck  leaped  sheer  off  into  the  air, 
showing  against  the  distant  sky  his  whole  profile, 
with  out-spread  legs,  and  with  his  head  thrown 
back  to  watch  his  pursuers.  He  alighted  upon 
the  beach,  full  twenty-five  feet  distant  from  the 
base  of  the  bluff,  and  immediately  plunged  into 
the  water.  Soon  after  him  came  his  panting 
pursuers,  with  mouths  open  and  tongues  lolling 
out,  and  while  one  of  them  made  the  leap  from 
the  bluff,  in  faint  imitation  of  the  deer,  the  others 
scrambled  down  the  steep  declivity,  and  all  of 
them  plunged  into  the  water  also. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  minutes  more,  two  canoes, 
each  containing  two  Indians,  shot  from  behind 
the  projecting  bluff  and  paddled  rapidly  aft«r  the 
dogs.  By  this  time  the  deer  had  gone  so  far  to 
sea  as  to  be  scarcely  visible,  except  perhaps  to  the 
keen  eyes  of  the  Indians,  although  the  dark,  heads 
of  the  dogs  were  plainly  to  be  seen  rising  and  fall- 
ing upon  the  swell  of  the  gently  moving  waves. 
Whether  guided  by  the  sight  of  the  now  distant 
deer,  or  of  the  dogs,  the  hunters  did  not  hesitate, 
but  pushed  right  oiit  to  sea.  The  dogs,  after 
swimming  about  half  a  mile,  seemed  to  fail,  either 


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90  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

in  strength  or  courage,  and  returned  to  shore, 
passing  the  candes  at  the  distance  of  a  few  rods, 
and  on  reaching  land  shook  their  dripping  coats, 
and  lay  panting  upon  the  sand,  with  their  eyes 
steadily  directed  to  the  canoes,  and  seeming  to 
anticipate  what  they  knew  was  to  be  the  end  of 
the  chase. 

Dr.  Gordon  observed  that  while  one  of  the  ca- 
noes paddled  rapidly  in  the  direction  from  which 
the  dogs  had  come,  the  other  followed  leisurely  in 
its  wake.  Soon  the  head  of  the  foremost  canoe 
was  turned  south,  upon  which  the  one  in  the  rear 
moved  with  all  possible  rapidity  in  the  same  di- 
rection. The  deer,  having  exhausted  the  swim- 
ming power  of  the  dogs,  had  turned  also  towards 
land,  and  it  was  the  plan  of  the  Indians  to  inter- 
cept and  capture  it.  The  struggle,  on  the  deer's 
part,  to  escape  was  long  and  obstinate.  It  made 
a  wide  detour  to  pass  its  dangerous-looking  ene- 
mies; then  swam  with  all  its  might  to  win  the 
race  to  shore;  failing  in  this,  it  made  desperate 
efforts  to  pass,  now  to  this  side,  then  to  that.  Its 
efforts,  however,  were  all  in  vain.  The  other 
canoe  came  up;  the  poor  brute  seemed  to  lose 
heart;  it  began  to  swim  feebly,  then  almost  at 
random ;  at  last  its  branching  horns  were  entangled 
by  a  lasso-like  thong  thrown  around  them;  its 
head  was.  pushed  under  tiie  water  and  held  there 
until  life  was  nearly  extinct,  wheii  it  was  drawn 


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31  Alio  OXER'S  ISLAND.  91 

alongside  the  canoe  and  its  throat  cut ;  after  which 
it  was  taken  aboard,  just  in  time  to  save  the  carcass 
from  several  immense  sharks  which  had  scented 
the  blood  from  afar,  and  whose  black  fins,  pro- 
jecting a  foot  into  the  air,  seemed  almost  to  make 
a  fizzing  sound  as  they  hurried  fiercely  to  the 
scene  of  slaughter. 

When  the  barge  came  to  the  spot  from  which 
the  canoes  were  now  departing  the  disappointed 
sharks  could  be  plainly  seen,  staring  with  their 
green,  hungry  eyes  at  the  crew,  and  looking  as  if 
they  were  meditating  a  leap  at  them  over  the 
gunwales. 

As  the  canoes  were  moving  off  Tomkins  hailed 
them  and  congratulated  the  leading  Indian,  an 
elderly,  fine-looking  man,  on  his  skill  as  a  hunter. 
No  answer,  however,  was  returned,  except  a  grunt, 
expressive  certainly  of  indifference  if  not  of  dis- 
gust. Thinking  it  possible  that  none  of  them 
understood  English,  Tomkins  repeated  what  he 
had  said  in  Indian,  and  at  the  same  time  inquired 
if  any  boats  had  been  seen  passing  on  the  coast. 
Still  there  was  no  reply,  nor  even  a  turning  of  the 
ear,  or  a  movement  of  the  eye  to  intimate  their 
consciousness  of  any  presence  except  their  own. 
The  elderly  Indian  alone  gave  one  searching  look 
into  the  faces  of  the  crew,  then  with  a  scowl  of 
hate  and  a  murmur  of  command  he  turned  his 
.  face  toward  the  shore,  and  they  paddled  silently 
awav. 


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92  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

Tomkins  turned  anxiously  to  Dr.  Gordon,  and 
whispered, — 

"I  am  afraid,  Doctor,  there  is  trouble  in  the 
wigwam.  I  never  knew  a  redskin  look  that  way, 
yet,  but  mischief  was  sure  to  follow.' 

Dr.  Gordon  also  became  very  grave,  and  send- 
ing a  sad,  far-reaching  glance  down  the  coast, 
replied, — 

"  I  fear  the  same.  And  my  poor,  poor  children  I 
how  are  they  either  to  escape  or  to  meet  it?'' 

The  faces  of  the  men  reflected  instantly  and 
unreservedly  the  feelings  which  they  saw  so 
plainly  depicted  in  his,  while  Tomkins,  acting  as 
spokesman,  said, — 

"These  men  may  not  be  fair  samples  for  the 
rest ;  and,  supposing  they  are,  why,  what  we  have 
to  do  is  to  push  on  as  far  and  fast  as  possible  in 
search  of  your  children.  If  there  is  a  storm  gath- 
ering, we  may  be  able  to  save  them,  and  to  return 
to  Fort  Brooke  before  it  bursts." 

To  these  words  the  men  responded  by  looks  of 
hearty  approbation,  all  except  Simpson,  whose 
usually  dowm-look  was  more  down  than  ever,  since 
the  appearance  of  the  Indians.  But  creditable  as 
they  were  to  the  soldierly  spirit  of  the  men,  they 
conveyed  little  or  no  consolation  to  the  heart  of 
the  father.  The  quick  ear  of  Tomkins,  who  sat 
next  him,  caught  the  sound  of  a  stifled  groan,  and 
his   eye   detected   an   expression   of  countenance 


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MAROONER'S   ISLAND.  93 

which  convinced  him  that  not  only  was  the  mind 
of  the  sorrower  far  away,  but  that  his  heart  was 
holding  communion  with  One  who  is  not  of  this 
world.  Soldier  though  h«  was,  and  accustomed 
to  deal  fearlessly  with  dangers  and  dangerous 
things,  the  sight  awed  him  into  reverential  silence. 

The  shadow  that  fell  thus  suddenly  upon  the 
spirits  of  the  group  was  not  wholly  dispelled  that 
day.  Dr.  Gordon  made  various  attempts  to  rally, 
in  which  he  was  well  seconded  by  the  native  live- 
liness of  Jones  and  Thompson,  and  by  the  assumed 
cheerfulness  of  the  rest ;  but  although  to  the  eye 
of  an  observer  all  was  pleasant  enough,  each  was 
conscious  of  a  foreboding  that  the  cloud  which 
had  begun  to  gather,  was  not  to  be  dispersed  until 
they  had  heard  its  thunder  and  felt  its  force. 

Late  in  the  evening  the  bow  of  the  barge  was 
turned  shorewards,  in  search  of  a  place  of  encamp- 
ment for  the  night.  Before  leaving  the  open  water 
the  spy-glass  was  brought  into  requisition  and  the 
whole  horizon  swept  by  it.  No  sign  was  dis- 
covered of  the  missing  boat,  but  far  away  to  the 
north  a  dim  speck,  barely  visible  to  the  naked  eye, 
was  developed  into  a  canoe,  manned  by  two  In- 
dians, and  moving  south. 


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CHAPTER  IX, 

WATER!  WATER !  — BRACKISH  WATER  CORRECT^ 
ED  — SALT  WATER  CONVERTED  INTO  FRESH^ 
SUBSTITUTES  FOR  WATER  — MODES  OF  ALLAY- 
INQ  THIRST— SIGNS  FOR  FINDING   WATER, 


HE  encampment  that  night  was  in  a 
nook  of  the  coast,  where  the  soft  shell 
rock,  which  underjies  a  great  portion 
of  peninsular  Florida,  had  been  worn 
into  the  proportions  of  a  mimic  bay.  The  sur- 
rounding bluff  was  higher  than  usual,  being 
withal  surmounted  by  hillocks  of  sand  blown 
up  from  the  beach,  and  by  a  clump  of  thick, 
dwarfish  cedars  and  small  bushes ;  while  beyond 
these,  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  the  country  was 
perfectly  clear  of  growth,  even  of  the  cactus.  In 
a  military  point  of  view,  no  better  place  could 
have  been  selected,  for  while  it  gave  to  persons 
on  the  spot  every  advantage  for  concealment  and 
defence,  it  furnished  none  to  persons  approaching. 
But  there  was  one  serious  deficiency  attending 
it — the  water  which  oozed  through  the  sands  of 

94 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  9'> 

the  beach  was  all  brackish,  while  the  runlet  on 
board  the  barge  was  nearly  dry.  In  this  emerg- 
ency two  suggestions  were  offered.  One  was  by 
Jones,  who  said  that  in  the  part  of  North  Caro- 
lina from  which  he  came,  it  was  common  to  cor- 
rect the  brackish  taste  of  water  by  the  use  of  the 
Yupon.* 

"  I  see  several  bushes  of  it  growing  among 
these  cedars,'^  said  he,  "  and  although  the  water 
we  have  found  is  too  brackish  to  be  pleasant,  it 
will  be  made  pleasant  enough  if  boiled  or  steeped 
with  a  few  leaves  of  the  Yiipon." 

The  other  suggestion  was  from  Wheeler,  and, 
by  way  of  authority,  was  prefaced  with  a  short 
narrative.  He  said  that  while  aiding  once  as 
escort  to  a  company  of  learned  Frenchmen,  under 
the  lead  of  some  one  by  the  name  of  Nickoly,  or 
Nicolay,  they  were  all  saved  from  suffering,  and 
perhaps  from  death,  by  the  happy  device  of  one 
of  the  corps. 

"  We  were  passing  through  those  horrible  salt- 
prairies  out  West,"  said  he,  ^^  where  there  is  often- 
times water  enough  in  pools  and  lakes,  but  which 

*The  Yu-pon,  or  Cassena,  (spelt  also  Cassina,  or  Cassine,) 
is  a  beautiful  evergreen  shrub,  growing  to  the  height  of 
eight  or  ten  feet,  and  adorned  in  winter  with  berries  of  a 
brilliant  red.  It  abounds  along  the  coast,  and  is  known  by 
many  as  "North  Carolina  tea,"  being  often  used  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  better  article  of  commerce. 


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96  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

is  all  as  brioy  as  the  ocean.  For  several  days  our 
horses'  feet  had  been  crunching  through  the  salty 
crust  of  the  prairie,  which  looked  all  the  while  as 
if  covered  with  frost,  when  by  an  accident  we  lost 
our  supply  of  drinking  water. 

"  The  faces  of  most  of  the  party  turned  pale  at 
the  sight  of  the  empty  kegs,  for  no  one  could  tell 
how  many  days  it  would  be  before  fresh  water  was 
to  be  had ;  but  one  of  them  spoke  up  cheerily, 
and  said,  *  We  shall  do  very  little  credit  to  our 
education,  if,  with  our  camp-kettles  and  with  the 
wood  around  us,  we  suffer  long  from  thirst,  be- 
cause the  water  happens  to  be  salt.' 

"  I  saw  Mr.  Nicolay's  eyes  brighten  as  if  there 
was  life  in  this  remark,  and  so  did  the  faces  of  the 
others ;  but  how  it  was  possible  to  turn  salt  water 
into  fresh  by  means  of  a  kettle  and  wood,  was 
more  than  I  could  imagine,  for  I  knew  that  the 
longer  salt  water  is  boiled  the  more  briny  it 
becomes;  nor  did  I  know  how,  until  I  saw  it 
done.  But  I  have  practised  it  several  times  since, 
and  if  the  Doctor  and  the  Sargeant  say  so,  I  will 
do  as  I  saw  the  Frenchmen  do,  and  make  some 
of  this  sea-water  fit  for  use." 

Tomkins  had  a  high  regard  for  Wheeler's  good 
sense,  as  well  he  might,  but  at  this  suggestion  he 
looked  rather  doubtful,  until  Dr.  Gordon  re- 
marked, — 

"  Wheeler  is  right.    The  great  Author  of  nature 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  97 

has  endowed  water  with  such  laws  that  it  can  be 
compelled  to  part  with  its  salts,  and  most  other 
impurities,  by  either  of  two  methods,  the  very 
opposites  of  each  other,  and  fitting,  too,  the  two 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold.  One  is  by  freezing, 
and  the  other  is  by  boiling.  Those  who  visit  the 
Polar  regions  tell  us  that  the  icebergs  are  all 
fresh,  though  composed  of  sea-water.  Tlie  act  of 
freezing  forces  out  tlie  salt.  And  the  same  is  true 
of  water  that  is  evaporated,  though  in  a  different 
way ;  the  heat  forces  out  the  water  in  the  shape 
of  steam  or  vapor,  leaving  the  salt  behind.  Now, 
if  we  can  catch  and  condense  that  steam,  we  shall 
have  fresh  water ;  and  all  that  we  need  do  to  con- 
dense it,  is  to  bring  it  into  contact  with  something 
colder  than  itself.  This  is  the  philosophy  of  the 
case,  expressed  in  a  simple  way ;  but  I  am  curious 
to  learn  Wheeler's  process  for  this,  which  must  be 
simple,  indeed,  since  it  can  be  practised  on  a  salt- 
prairie  or  a  sandy  sea-beach." 

It  was  then  agreed  that  a  trial  should  be  given 
to  both  plans,  and  as  both  plans  required  fire,  and 
as  it  was  expedient,  for  the  sake  of  concealment, 
to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  all  flame  and  smoke, 
the  fire  was  committed  to  the  Indian  skill  of  Wild- 
cat, who  selected  a  place  amid  the  dense  growth 
of  the  thicket,  which  he  made  still  more  private 
by  a  screen  of  bushes,  and  then  made  his  fire  of 
small  dry  twigs,  which  soon  produced  a  strong 


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98  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

heat,  with  very  little  flame  or  smoke.  The  result 
of  the  two  experiments  was,  that  the  party  enjoyed 
a  comfortable  supper,  and  had  some  water  left, 
over  and  above  their  evening's  necessity,  for  break- 
fast next  morning.  Jones'  Yupon  did  not  alto- 
gether destroy  the  brackishness  of  the  water ;  it 
only  modified  and  disguised  it  .to  such  degree  that 
the  water,  which  was  wholly  unfit  for  tea  and 
other  purposes  before,  was  endurable  now.  But 
Wheeler's  plan,  although  liable  to  the  serious  ob- 
jection of  being  very  slow,  was  perfectly  successful. 
His  whole  apparatus  consisted  of  a  camp-kettle 
for  his  boiler,  a  tin  bucket  for  his  condenser,  and 
a  tin  cup  for  his  receiver.  The  kettle  was  filled 
only  about  half-full,  leaving  a  perfectly  free  pas- 
sage for  the  steam  through  the  spout  when  most 
vigorously  boiling.  As  soon  as  the  steam  began 
to  issue  freely,  the  tin  bucket  of  cold  water  was 
suspended,  in  a  tilted  posture,  near  the  spout  and 
to  the  windward  of  the  fire,  so  that  the  steam,  un- 
mixed with  smoke,  should  pour  upon  its  cool  side, 
where  it  instantly  condensed  into  the  form  of  dew, 
and  then  trickled,  drop  by  drop,  down  the  side,  and 
then  down  the  leaning  bottom  of  the  bucket  into 
a  cup  set  for  its  reception.  The  process  was  so 
slow,  that  one  kettle  would  scarcely  distil  a  quart 
in  an  hour,  and  the  water,  besides,  was  flat  to  the 
taste,  as  water  always  is  after  being  boiled  ;  still, 
iff  was  ^perfectly  fresh — it  could  quench  thirst — it 
could  save  life  in  time  pf  noed. 


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3IAR00NER'S  ISLAND.  99 

Dr.  Gordon  expressed  himself  highly  delighted 
with  the  simple  contrivance.  When  the  water 
thus  produced  was  cooled  and  handed  to  Tomkins, 
he  tasted  it,  then  looked  very  sad,  and  finally  sur  - 
prised  every  one  by  brushing  away  a  tear. 

"  Excuse  me,  sir,"  he  said  to  Dr.  Gordon,  "  but 
this  water  carried  me  to  a  time  when  I  saw  people 
die  for  the  want  of  it,  or  rather,  I  may  say,  when  I 
saw  an  angel  of  a  child  starve  to  death  for  the 
want  of  water,  when,  if  we  had  only  known  this 
simple  plan,  we  might  have  saved  her  life.  She 
was  not  my  child,  sir,  nor  any  kin  of  mine,  but 
the  daughter  of  a  passenger,  who  was  so  unfor- 
tunate as  to  lose  his  wife  at  the  same  time.  It 
was  years  ago,  but  all  is  as  fresh  to  my  mind  as  if 
it  happened  yesterday.  We  were  on  a  wreck  at 
sea,  off  the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  where  we 
floated  for  four  mortal  days  without  a  mouthful 
to  eat  or  a  drop  of  water  to  drink.  You  know 
people  suffer  more  from  thirst,  and  die  of  it  sooner, 
than  they  do  from  hunger.  Well,  this  child  died 
in  her  father's  lap  the  third  day  of  our  misfortune. 
She  had  cried  for  water  and  for  something  to  eat 
several  times  during  the  first  day  and  a  half,  but 
when  her  father  said  to  her,  *My  darling,  there  is 
none  to  be  had ;  you  must  try  and  not  ask  for  it,' 
she  never  cried  again.  She  suffered  and  died,  but 
the  word  ^  water '  never  passed  her  lips.  Oh,  sir, 
she  was  an  angel !  and  when  I  think  of  her,  the 


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100  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

tears  come  up  in  spite 'of  me.  Now,  we  liad  wood 
enough  on  the  wreck  for  fire,  and  matches,  too, 
and  vessels  sufficient  to  distil  what  that  poor  child 
needed,  and  perhaps  others,  too,  that  died,  but  no- 
body knew  of  this  way  of  producing  it.  Oh,  if 
we  had  known  ! " 

"Did  you  adopt  no  plan  for  quenching  your 
thirst?"  Dr.  Gordon  asked. 

"  Oh,  yes/^  he  replied ;  "  we  tried  many  plans, 
but  the  only  one  that  proved  of  any  avail  was 
keeping  our  clothes  wet  with  sea-water.  It  s^ms 
that  the  skin  has  some  of  the  power  that  you  as- 
cribe to  both  freezing  and  evaporation ;  it  can  sep- 
arate the  water  from  the  salt,  and,  as  it  were,  suck 
the  water  into  the  system.  We  who  kept  our 
clothes  wet,  and  who  kept  wet  cloths  around  our 
necks,  lived  in  tolerable  comfort,  while  those  who 
drank  the  sea-water  sickened,  and  raved,  and  died. 
We  lost  five  out  of  eighteen." 

These  last  remarks  led  into  quite  a  long  and 
interesting  conversation  on  the  various  expedients 
for  allaying  thirst  and  for  obtaining  water. 

Wheeler  gave  it  as  his  experience  that,  in  long 
and  thirsty  marches,  such  as  he  had  made  in 
Mexico  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  it  is  better  to 
drink  well  at  the  start,  and  to  drink  no  more 
until  the  halt,  and  at  the  same  time  to  keep  the 
mouth  shut  during  the  march,  breathing  only 
throuj'h  the  nostrils. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  101 

Thompson  said  that  his  experience  was  like 
Wheeler's,  and  that  whenever  his  thii'st  became 
great,  he  found  it  better  to  quench  it  by  drinking 
a  teaspoonful  at  a  time,  very  often,  than  by  swal- 
lowing large  draughts  at  a  time. 

Jones  remarked,  that  on  a  march,  his  own  habit 
had  been  to  keep  a  bullet  or  a  pebble  in  his  mouth, 
or  to  chew  a  leaf  or  straw  ;  and  that,  according  to 
his  experience,  a  small  piece  of  clove  kept  in  the 
mouth  will  create  moisture  for  a  long  time. 

Dr.  Gordon  said  that  a  little  vinegar  mixed 
with  the  water  will  greatly  allay  the  sensation  of 
thirst,  and  so  will  any  sub-acid  fruit,  and  that  the 
mucilaginous  leaves  of  the  sassafras  and  of  the 
prickly  pear  are  often  used  for  the  same  purpose. 

Tom  kins  added  that  he  had  once  carried  with 
him  to  the  battle-field  a  canteen  of  cold  tea,  and 
found  it  to  have  the  effect  of  both  food  and  water, 
and  that  he  had  no  doubt  a  canteen  of  cold  coffee 
would  do  equally  as  well. 

"  When  I  was  crossing  the  ocean,"  said  Magru- 
der,  ^^  our  water  became  very  stale,  and  the  ship's 
company  began  to  suffer,  when  our  captain  gave 
us  a  treat  in  the  way  of  drink  that  none  of  us 
will  be  apt  to  forget  if  we  live  to  the  age  of  Me- 
thuselah— it  was  a  drink  of  ice- water  fresh  from 
the  clouds.  There  came  up  a  hail  storm  in  the 
midst  of  our  distress,  and  the  captain  stretched 
several  large  sails  to  catch  it.     The  water  soon 


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102  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

began  to  collect  into  the  middle  of  the  sail,  and 
to  pour  through  it  in  a  perfect  stream.  We 
caught  more  than  two  bar'ls  of  it,  though  the 
captain  did  not  allow  any  of  it  to  enter  the 
bar'ls  until  the  salt  had  been  all  washed  out  of 
the  sails/' 

"  I  was  present  once,''  said  Wheeler,  "  when 
some  thirsty  men,  for  the  lack  of  sails,  spread 
their  own  clothes  in  the  rain,  and  then  wrung  out 
the  water  into  cups  to  drink.  I  confess  I  pre- 
ferred to  starve  a  little  longer  for  water  than  to 
drink  what  was  wrung  from  dirty  clothing." 

"  A  cleaner  mode,"  added  Dr.  Gordon,  "  would 
have  been  to  collect  the  rain-drops  from  the  trees 
by  means  of  a  sponge  or  cloth.  Even  dew-drops 
may  be  collected  in  this  way,  and  it  is  surprising 
to  know  how  much  water  they  will  afford." 

Wheeler  said  he  had  once  tasted  water  from  the 
paunch  of  a  newly-killed  deer,  and  it  was  fresh, 
but  unpleasantly  sweetish.  He  had  also  heard 
fishermen  say  that  the  water  to  be  found  in  a 
little  sac  around  the  heart  of  the  sea- turtle  is 
fresh  enough  to  quench  thirst,  but  he  had  never 
tried  it. 

Wildcat,  who  had  been  silent  through  all  this* 
colloquy,  now  whispered  modestly  to  Jones  that 
he   had   often   quenched    his   thirst,   during  the 
spring  and  early  summer,  from  the  vine  of  the 
wild  grape,  which,  on  being  cut  or  even  bruised, 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  103 

will  emit  for  days  a  quantity  of  very  palatable 
water. 

"  While  we  are  talking  about  fresh  water/'  said 
Tomkins,  "  there  comes  to  our  ears  the  sign  of  it 
not  half  a  mile  away.  Do  you  hear  the  cawing 
and  chattering  of  those  sea-birds  going  to  roost? 
They  are  cranes,  and  herons,  and  gannets,  and 
water-turkeys,  that  wade  in  the  salt  water,  and 
feed  upon  salt  food  all  day ;  but  I  observe  that 
they  always  try  to  sleep  over  a  fresh-water  pool 
at  night." 

Wheeler  stated  that  hunters  among  the  wild 
mountains  and  boundless  prairies  of  the  West 
would  often  die  for  want  of  water,  were  it  not  for 
knowing  that  the  paths  worn  by  wild  beasts  al- 
most invariably  lead  to  water,  of  which  they  are 
next  to  certain  when  they  can  find  two  of  them 
converging  to  the  same  point.  He  said  there  was 
one  fresh-water  sign  which  had  never  yet  deceived 
him,  and  this  was  the  growth  of  grasses  with  a 
three-cornered  stalk;  wherever  these  were  to  be 
found,  on  hill-side  or  valley,  there  was  sure  to  be 
water  near  the  root.  Another  sign,  he  said,  was 
nearly  as  good,  though  by  no  means  so  precise, 
and  this  consisted  in  dancing  companies  of  mos- 
quitoes and  other  gnats,  for  these  troublesome 
insects  being  born  and  bred  in  water,  and  laying 
their  eggs  in  water,  cannot  afford  to  travel  very 
far  from  it.     He  also  described  the  process  of  try- 


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104  MAROOXER'S   ISLAND, 

ing  for  water  in  moist-looking  places.  An  iron 
ramrod  is  first  shoved  into  the  ground  as  deep  as 
it  will  go,  and  if  it  comes  up  moist,  there  is  water 
there.  It  is  usual  to  commence  digging  by  first 
sinking  a  hole  not  larger  than  a  man's  arm,  and 
afterwards  to  enlarge  it.  After  the  hole  has 
been  sunk  beyond  the  reach  of  the  hand,  it  is  easy 
to  loosen  the  dirt  by  means  of  a  sharpened  stick, 
the  point  of  which  is  hardened  in  the  fire,  and 
then  the  loosened  dirt  can  be  taken  out  by  means 
of  long,  tough  splinters  tied  around  the  end  of  a 
rod,  so  as  to  leave  a  hollow  in  the  midst.  With 
a  sharpened  stick  and  a  dirt-lifter,  it  is  easy  to 
bore  into  soft  earth  to  the  depth  of  ten,  or  fifteen, 
or  perhaps  even  of  twenty  feet. 

With  this  lively  chat  about  water,  which  in- 
terested all  by  its  promise  of  usefulness,  they 
passed  the  evening  from  sunset  to  bed-time,  when, 
just  as  they  were  preparing  to  turn  in  for  the 
night,  they  were  aroused  by  an  incident  which 
will  be  recorded  in  the  next  chapter. 


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CHAPTER   X. 

THE  ENCAMPMENT— OWL-HOOTS— A  NIGHT  SCOUT 
—  MORE  SHOOTING  THAN  WAS  BARGAINED  FOR. 


HE  encampment  for  the  night  and  all 
things  pertaining  to  it,  had  been  ef- 
fected with  an  eye  to  concealment  and 
defence.  Not  only  had  the  fire  for  dis- 
tilling their  water  and  cooking  their  supper,  been 
kindled  in  a  concealed  place,  and  been  fed  with  dry 
sticks  and  twigs  which  gave  the  greatest  amount 
of  heat  with  the  least  of  smoke  and  flame,  but  the 
barge  was  concealed  behind  a  pile  of  sea-weed  and 
other  stuff,  brought  in  from  sea  and  lodged  against 
a  mass  of  hardened  shell-rock  on  shore ;  and  the 
two  tents,  pitched  in  the  very  heart  of  the  cedar 
thicket,  were  covered  with  a  coat  of  leafy-branches 
80  thick  as  to  conceal  so  much  of  the  w^hite  canvas 
as  peered  above  the  dwarfy  growth  around. 

Soon  after  the  animated  conversation  recorded 
in  the  preceding  chapter  had  subsided,  and  when 
the  men  began  to  listen  for  the  command,  "  All  to 
quarters !"  the  hoot  of  an  owl  was  heard  from  the 

105 


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106  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

neighboring  forest,  followed  a  few  seconds  after- 
wards by  an  answering  hoot  from  the  coast  above, 
each  seeming  to  be  at  the  distance  of  a  quarter  of 
a  mile.  The  sound  was  so  perfectly  in  keeping 
with  the  country  that  it  would  probably  have  passed 
unnoticed  had  not  Tomkins,  in  a  casuaj  glance  at 
Wildcat,  observed  his  eye  fixed  upon  him  with 
glistening,  uneasy  gaze.  Its  meaning  was  too  plain 
to  be  misinterpreted,  and  yet  the  basis  of  its  in- 
tended report  was  so  slender  that  Tomkins  resolved 
to  trouble  no  one  with  it  but  himself.  He  simply 
announced  to  the  others  that  we  was  going  out  to 
reconnoitre  a  little  before  "  turning  in,"  charged 
tlie  Corporal  with  the  command  during  his  ab- 
sence, and  asked  Dr.  Gordon  to  allow  him,  in  the 
meanwhile,  the  company  of  Wildcat.  Then  shoul- 
dering a  musket,  and  motioning  his  young  com- 
panion to  do  the  same,  he  thrust  a  night-glass  into 
his  bosom,  and  passing  the  sentinel,  who  was 
posted  in  a  concealed  place  on  the  bluff,  he  moved 
rapidly,  but  silently,  along  the  beach  in  the  direc- 
tion from  which  the  last  hoot  had  come. 

"So  you  think  those  were  not  owls  we  heard?" 
he  said  interrogatively,  to  Wildcat,  in  a  low  mur- 
mur, as  soon  as  they  were  alone. 

"  Not  owl,"  was  the  reply,  "  but  red  man  in  the 
bush,  and  red  man  by  the  water." 

"  You  think  the  men  in  the  canoes  are  on  our 
trail?"  he  asked  again. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.     ^  107 

"  Think  so,"  was  the  laconic  answer. 

'*  I  should  like  to  find  out  how  many  of  them 
there  are,"  Tomkins  said. 

As  he  spoke,  there  was  another  hoot  from  the 
woods  back  of  the  encampment,  followed  by  an- 
other reply  from  the  beach. 

"  Can  make  canoe  come  here,  if  Sergeant  say  so," 
Wildcat  intimated. 

"How?"  Tompkins  asked. 

"  Wildcat  will  talk  like  red  man  in  the  bush," 
he  replied. 

"  Did  you  notice  the  difference  in  the  two  cries? 
and  can  you  hoot  like  each  ?" 

Wildcat  grunted  assent  in  true  Indian  style, 
then,  in  a  low  tone,  imitated  the  two  cries,  saying, 
"  Red  man  in  bush  say,  Oo-oo-uh-oo-oo !  and  red 
man  by  water  say,  Oo-oo-oo-oo-uh ! " 

"  That  is  well  done,"  Tomkins  said  in  admira- 
tion of  the  boy's  power  of  imitation. 

"  I  will  tell  you  very  soon  if  it  is  best  to  bring 
them." 

During  the  walk  they  frequently  stopped  to 
reconnoitre;  at  which  times  Tomkins,  with  his 
night-glass,  would  search  every  visible  point ;  but, 
although  the  light  of  the  misty  moon,  almost  over- 
head, was  suflQcient  to  reveal  objects  to  the  naked 
eye  at  the  distance  of  eighty  or  a  hundred  yards, 
and  to  the  glass  at  double  that  distance,  he  could 
discover  nothing  amiss,  or  even  suspicious.  Reach- 


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108  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

ing  at  last  a  part  of  the  bluff  where  the  conceal- 
ment suited  his  purpose,  amid  some  hillocks  of 
sand  blown  up  from  the  beach  below,  he  seated 
himself  with  Wildcat  by  his  side,  and  said  to 
him, — 

"  Now  see  if  you  can  bring  the  canoes." 

Wildcat  first  rehearsed  to  himself  in  very  low 
tones  the  cry  he  wished  to  imitate,  then  putting 
his  hands  before  his  mouth  to  deaden  the  peculi- 
arities of  the  human  voice,  he  gave  utterance  to 
his  "  Oo-oo-uh-oo-oo ! '^  in  tones  so  owl-like  that 
Tomkins  looked  around,  almost  expecting  to  see 
a  pair  of  big  eyes  staring  at  him. 

Not  many  minutes  now  elapsed  before  two  ca- 
noes appeared  moving  boldly  down  the  coast,  within 
easy  gunshot  of  shore,  one  of  them  containing  two 
persons,  the  other  only  one,  the  companion  to  the 
last  being  probably  the  hooter  in  the  woods.  Tom- 
kins  kept  his  place  of  concealment  until  they  had 
passed,  waiting  to  see  whether  others  were  to  fol- 
low. Then,  seeing  how  insignificant  the  force 
w^as,  he  motioned  Wildcat  behind  the  breastwork 
of  sand,  along  which  they  both  hurried  back  to 
camp. 

Scarcely,  however,  had  they  come  within  earshot 
of  the  sentinel  when  they  heard  th^  peculiar  voice 
of  Simpson,  who  was  on  duty,  sing  out  three  sev- 
eral times  in  quick  succession,  first  in  English, 
then  in  Indian,  "Who  comes  there?  Halt,  or  I'll 
shoot!" 


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MAROONER'S   ISLAND.        ■        109 

The  canoes  did  not  halt,  but  with  an  exclama- 
tion, seemingly  of  surprise  and  wrath,  hurried 
rapidly  on. 

"  Halt,  or  I'll  shoot ! "  Simpson  was  heard  to 
say  again,  and  immediately  upon  his  words  came 
the  flash  and  roar  of  a  musket.  Tomkins  ran  as 
fast  as  he  could,  halloing, — 

"Stop  your  shooting !''  but,  before  his  cx)ra- 
mand  could  reach  its  destination,  another  musket 
had  jarred  the  night  air,  quickly  succeeded  by  a 
thirdy  while  from  the  canoes  came  what  sounded 
like  a  muttered  curse,*  then  the  whistle  of  balls, 
accompanied  by  the  sharp  crack  of  three  successive 
rifles. 

"Them  fellows  come  mighty  nigh  a  hittin  o' 
me ! "  said  Simpson,  in  a  deprecating  tone  to  the 
Sergeant,  on  his  approach,  pointing,  as  he  spoke, 
to  a  white  spot  on  a  cedar  which  had  been  barked 
by  a  ball  within  a  foot's  range  of  his  head. 

"  What  on  earth  possessed  you  to  shoot  ?  "  asked 
Tomkins  sternly.  "Do  you  wish  to  bring  the 
whole  nation  upon  us?'' 

"I  thought,"  replied  Simpson,  "you  put  me 
h'yur  as  sentry,  to  shoot  ef  people  don't  stop  when 
halted." 

*  To  the  credit  of  the  American  Aborigines,  and  especijilly 
of  the  Cherokee  tribe,  it  is  said  that  they  have  or  rather  had 
no  ** curse-words"  in  their  language,  and  that  before  they 
could  be  profane  they  had  to  learn  English. 


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110  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"  That  is  his  duty  in  time  of  war/'  Tomkins 
answered;  "but  it  is  not  a  time  of  war  yet,  unless 
your  attack  on  the  canoe  has  made  it  so.  But  how 
come  you  with  three  guns  ? '' 

"  I  was  a'  mos'  sartin  the  red  skins  would  be 
upon  us  to-night;  so  I  borried  the  guns  to  be 
ready,"  Simpson  explained. 

Tomkins  was  exceedingly  annoyed  by  this  un- 
fortunate termination  to  his  harmlessly  intended 
ruse  in  decoying  the  Indians  from  their  conceal- 
ment. But  the  deed  and  its  consequences  were 
now  past  recall,  and  all  that  he  could  do  was  to 
confer  with  Dr.  Gordon  on  the  increasingly  serious 
aspect  their  affairs  began  to  assume,  and  on  their 
duty  in  the  premises. 

"  If  blood  has  been  shed  by  that  foolish  firing," 
said  he,  "  I  am  afraid  our  cruise  along  the  coast 
will  not  reach  much  farther,  for  blood  is  an  offerice 
which  no  Indian  can  either  forgive  or  forget." 

This  caused  Dr.  Gordon  to  ponder  long  f-nd 
anxiously.  Eager  as  he  M^as  to  proceed,  and  all 
the  more  so  in  consequence  of  that  day's  expe- 
rience, he  questioned  the  propriety  of  endangering, 
in  his  private  cause,  the  lives  of  men  who  had  ne 
interest  in  it  beyond  that  of  common  humanity, 
and  who  had  been  kindly  lent  to  him  by  an  offi'^r 
whose  account  must  be  rendered  to  a  higher  and 
it  may  be  an  unsympathizing  authority.  While 
he    was   silently  meditating  his  duty,  Tomkins. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  HI 

whose  quickened  eye  gave  evidence  of  some  re- 
lieving thought,  continued  and  said  — 

"  It  is  ten  to  one  that  no  blood  has  been  shed  ; 
for  though  Simpson  is  a  capital  shot  by  day,  he 
had  poor  chance  for  a  telling  aim  to-night.  And, 
even  supposing  the  worst,  that  the  red  skins  come 
upon  us  in  force,  why  here  we  are  in  a  boat,  which, 
though  called  a  barge,  is  strong  as  any  sea-boat 
need  to  be ;  in  her  we  can  easily  put  to  sea,  where 
their  little  periwinkle  canoes  dare  not  follow.  All 
that  I  fear  is  for  your  children  that  we  come  out 
here  to  save,  and  I  think  we  soldiers  are  now 
more  bound  than  ever  to  do  what  we  came  to  do." 

Dr.  Gordon  could  not  help  admiring  the  sol- 
dierly spirit  of  the  man,' at  the  same  time  that  he 
was  gratified  with  the  kindly  interest  manifested 
in  his  unfortunate  children;  but  he  yielded  his 
assent  so  slowly  and  doubtfully  to  what  was  said 
that  Tom  kins  energetically  reiterated : 

"  I  will  leave  it  to  the  men  whether  it  would  be 
manly  in  us  to  hesitate  in  such  a  case  as  yours,  for 
the  sake  of  a  little  danger.  Why,  sir,  if  we  were 
to  give  it  up  so,  and  the  matter  were  known  at  the 
Fort,  we  should  never  hear  the  end  of  it,  and  I 
think  we  should  deserve  to  be  cashiered  and 
drummed  out  of  the  garrison.  No  sir,  we  must 
keep  on  now,  unless  you  order  us  back,  for  your 
orders  we  are  bound  to  obey." 

"  I  certainly  cannot  take  that  responsibility,  if 


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112  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

I  am  to  judge  of  your  duty  by  my  feelings/'  re- 
plied Dr.  Gordon.  "  We  will,  therefore,  continue 
our  cruise  until  that  duty  is  made  plainer/' 

With  this  conclusion,  Tomkins,  and  the  men 
too,  seemed  satisfied.  They  turned  in  to  rest, 
while  he  went  out  to  give  instructions  in  case  of 
further  disturbance.  There  was  nothing  more, 
however,  to  mark  the  history  of  the  night,  except 
that  the  hoot  of  the  owl,  coming  from  the  woods 
back  of  the  encampment,  was  in  the  course  of 
time  cautiously  repeated,  and  was  answered  by  a 
hoot  from  the  coast  below,  accompanied  by  the 
screech  of  a  panther. 


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CHAPTER  XL 

FOG—  "  GANNET-VENTSON"  —  DESTROYING  JiATS-^ 
FRESH  SUPPLY  OF  WATER  — MAN  POISONED,  AND 
WHAT  WAS  DONE  TO  RELIEVE  HIM— BIVOUAC — 
ISLAND  A-FIRE- EFFORTS— LOSSES  AND  UNWEL- 
COME VISITORS. 


HE  next  morning  (Friday,  October  29,) 
dawned  an  hour  later  than  usual,  for  so 
heavy  a  mist  had  settled  on  both  sea  and 
land,  that  not  a  ray  of  light  was  visible 
in  the  sky  until  it  was  time  by  the  watch  to  look 
for  the  rising  of  the  sun.  Every  leaf  and  twig 
around  was  loaded  with  a  drop  of  moisture — rain 
it  could  not  be  called,  since  none  had  fallen,  and 
neither  was  it  dew,  yet  everything  was  wet.  TJie 
mist  did  not  lift  itself  until  the  sun  was  far  above 
the  horizon. 

So  far  as  the  work  of  exploration  was  concerned, 
it  was  worse  than  useless  to  leave  shore,  because 
it  was  not  possible  to  see  more  than  a  few  boat- 
lengths  away,  and  as  for  hearing,  the  sound  of 
passing  oars  could  be  better  detected  by  their  keep- 
ing perfectly  quiet.  About  nine  o'clock,  however, 
11  113 


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114  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

the  fog  began  to  rise,  the  sun  shone  out,  and  the 
day  was  pleasant  as  usual.  They  then  weighed 
anchor,  and  sailed  in  the  still  water  that  prevailed 
between  shore  and  the  almost  continuous  chain  of 
reefe  and  shoals,  and  low  sandy  islands  and  man- 
grove marshes  that  lay  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  or 
more  to  seaward,  and  that  broke  or  wholly  arrested 
the  waves  from  the  open  gulf. 

This  advantage  to  them  of  still  water,  which 
certainly  was  very  great,  was,  however,  almost 
counterbalanced  by  a  corresponding  disadvantage, 
for  while  they  were  exploring  the  shores  of  one 
side  of  an  island,  the  boat  of  which  they  were  in 
search  might  pass  unseen  on  the  other  side.  An- 
other inconvenience,  of  a  similar  character,  began 
to  be  sorely  felt  this  same  day — the  bays,  creeks 
and  inlets  occupied  so  much  of  their  time  that 
they  were  able  to  make  very  little  progress  south- 
ward—  the  close  of  the  day  finding  them  scarcely 
twenty  miles  from  their  previous  night's  encamp- 
ment. 

During  their  inland  excursions  large  numbers 
of  gannets  flew  past  them  overhead,  so  low  as  to 
be  within  easy  gunshot.  These  are  large  birds, 
crane-like  in  shape  and  habits,  only  more  heavily 
built,  with  white  body  and  wings  tipped  with 
black.  After  several  gangs  had  passed,  Wheeler, 
who  had  observed  them  with  some  interest,  turned 
to  Dr.  Gordon  and  inquired : 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  115 

"  Captain,  are  you  fond  of  venison  steaks  ?'' 

On  being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  he  ad- 
ded:— 

"  I  can  obtain  a  nice  supply  for  you,  if  allowed 
to  shoot." 

Dr.  Gordon  looked  to  Tomkins,  who  replied 
rather  doubtfully : 

"  No  objection  to  his  shooting,  on  condition  that 
he  brings  the  venison.'' 

"  If  I  do  not  bring  real  deer's  meat,"  answered 
Wheeler,  "  I  will  bring  something  so  like  it  that 
no  one  can  tell  the  diiference." 

"  Well,  shoot  away,"  Tomkins  rejoined. 

Wheeler  drew  the  ball  from  his  musket,  put  in 
its  place  a  load  of  large  duck  shot,  waited  until  a 
flock  of  low-flying  gannets  appeared,  and  until 
two  of  them  were  in  a  range,  when  he  brought 
them  both  down,  shot  through  the  head  and  neck. 
He  laid  them  upon  their  backs,  ripped  open,  with 
a  sharp  knife,  the  skin  upon  their  breasts,  and 
then,  with  another  knife,  cut  large  slices  from  the 
red  fleshy  muscles  thus  exposed,  which  he  im- 
mersed in  strong  salt  and  water,  to  be  kept  there 
till  wanted. 

"  I  shall  be  very  much  disappointed,"  said  he, 
"  if,  at  dinner  time  to-day,  or  whenever  else  we 
have  a  chance  for  broiling,  you  do  not  all  declare 
that  you  have  been  eating  venison  steak.  The 
only  diiFerence  any  one  can  perceive,  is  that  of  a 
slightly  birdy  taste. 

Digitized  by  CjOOQIC 


116  MAROONER'S    ISLAND. 

"You  have  tried  it,  then?"  Tonikins  inter- 
rogatively remarked. 

"Often  enough  to  know  what  I  am  talking 
about/'  replied  Wheeler.  "Indeed/'  said  he  in 
continuance,  "  the  only  secret  in  making  venison 
steaks  of  the  gannet  consists  in  avoiding  to  touch 
the  jflesh  with  anything  (hand  or  knife)  that  has 
touched  the  skin.  You  must  butcher  your  meat 
as  the  market-man  prepares  his  mutton ;  for  in 
mutton,  as  in  the  gannet,  the  rank  taste  resides  in 
the  skin,  and  it  is  kept  from  the  flesh  by  the  same 
plan — rolling  the  skin  so  as  not  to  touch  the  parts 
to  be  eaten." 

Several  of  the  men  testified  to  the  excellence 
of  "  gannet- venison/'  and  Dr.  Gordon  remarked : 

"  The  fact  that  the  fishy  taste  of  most  sea  birds 
is  confined  to  the  skin,  is  not  new  to  me ;  and  the 
plan  that  Corporal  Wheeler  has  just  practised  is 
founded  in  sound  philosophy.  It  is  said  that  bu- 
rial in  the  ground  for  several  days  will  also  remove 
the  fishy  taste.  The  Indians  have  a  mode  of 
freeing  the  flesh  of  skunks  and  pole-cats,  even, 
from  their  disagreeable  odor,  so  that  they  can  be 
used  for  food." 

"  I  have  seen  them  so,  alive,^^  said  Jones. 

"  Indeed ! "  said  Dr.  Gordon ;  "  how  and  where  ?" 

"In  North  Carolina,"  replied  Jones,  "in  the 
house  of  a  wealthy  old  gentleman  in  our  neigh- 
borhood.    His  house  and  plantation  were  so  over- 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  117 

run  with  rats,  which  bred  and  multiplied  in  spite 
of  all  the  cats  and  traps  he  could  command,  that 
he  at  last  resolved  to  try  snakes  and  pole-cats. 
First,  he  obtained  a  number  of  pole-cats  when 
they  were  young,  and  dissected  out  the  little  bag 
under  the  tail  that  holds  all  the  unpleasant  stuff; 
the  pole-cats  then  had  no  more  of  a  bad  smell  than 
a  common  house  cat,  and  were  far  better  mousers, 
or,  as  I  should  say,  ratters.  They  were  most  beau- 
tiful creatures,  too,  with  their  large  bushy  tails, 
and  parti-colored  coats." 

"  But  what  about  the  snakes  ?"  asked  Thomp- 
son, "Ye're  not  going  to  forget  to  remember 
about  them.'' 

"  O,  no,"  replied  Jones,  "  I  hadn't  come  to  them 
yet.  The  Doctor — I  mean  the  old  gentleman, 
for  he  was  a  doctor — soon  found,  that  although 
the  pole-cats  killed  all  the  rats  to  be  found  above 
ground  and  in  the  open  places,  there  were  many 
that  burrowed  and  bred  underground,  and  in  the 
walls,  where  the  pole-cats  couldn't  get.  He  then 
tamed  about  a  dozen  black  snakes  and  chicken 
snakes,  and  kept  them  about  his  house  and  barn. 
These  are  excellent  mousers,  too,  and  they  have 
this  advantage  over  a  cat,  that  they  can  go  into 
every  place  where  a  rat  can  go,  and  devour  the 
young  ones  in  their  nest,  as  well  as  the  old  ones 
in  the  burrows.  The  Doctor  soon  had  the  plea- 
sure of  seeing  that  his  rats  had  disappeared ;  but 


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118  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

people  say  that  he  had  a  great  displeasure  along 
with  it.  He  was  fond  of  company,  and  used  to 
have  his  house  full  and  lively  by  day  and  by  night. 
But  his  snakes  drove  them  away,  for  a  gentleman 
who  staid  there  one  night,  found  the  next  morning 
that  one  of  the  Doctor's  long-bodied  mousers  had 
been  his  bedfellow.  The  story  got  wind,  and  from 
that  time  people  were  afraid  to  come  where  they 
were  liable  to  meet  such  company." 

While  Jones  was  giving  the  above  account,  the 
barge  passed  a  fine  bold  bluff,  and  Wildcat,  with- 
out saying  a  word  to  interrupt  the  narrative, 
signed  to  Wheeler,  who  was  sailing-master,  to  no- 
tice the  beach,  which  glistened  under  the  bright 
sky  as  if  wet  with  oozing  water.  Wheeler  called 
Tomkins^  attention  to  it,  and  the  boat  was  headed 
shorewards. 

Jones  uttered  the  last  words  of  his  story  just  as 
the  bows  grated  upon  the  sands  of  the  beach,  and 
the  whole  crew  were  immediately  ordered  ashore 
to  look  for  fresh  water.  An  abundant  supply  of 
this  was  soon  found,  and  very  good  it  was,  but 
how  to  get  it  into  the  runlet  was  a  question,  for 
the  sands  were  so  quick  that  they  instantly  filled 
any  basin  that  was  scooped.  After  having  tried 
many  times  and  places  in  vain.  Wildcat  ran  to  the 
barge  and  brought  thence  a  closely  woven  cane 
basket,  such  as  is  found  in  every  Indian's  lodge, 
washed  it  clean,  and  sunk  it  in  the  sand  where  the 


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MAROOXER'S  ISLAND.  119 

best  water  was  to  be  obtained.  It  proved  an  ex- 
cellent curb,  and  kept  back  the  sand  sufficiently 
long  for  the  keg  to  be  filled. 

On  returning  to  the  boat,  all  observed  that 
Simpson  looked  very  pale  and  sick.  Indeed,  he 
was  seriously  ill,  being  aflSicted  with  an  incon- 
trollable  nausea,  and  wearing  an  expression  of 
great  distress.  No  sooner  had  he  reached  the  boat 
than  he  addressed  Dr.  Gordon,  saying : — 

"Captain,  unless  you  can  do  some'n  to  help 
me,  I'm  afeerd  you  will  soon  have  a  dead  man 
aboard." 

"  Indeed,"  returned  the  Doctor ;  "  what  is  the 
matter?" 

"  I  'm  afeerd  I  'm  pisoned,"   he  replied. 

"  Why  do  you  fear  so?"  the  Doctor  asked, 

"You  know,"  said  Simpson,  "  I  haven't  been 
myself  since  yesterday  midday.  When  we  landed 
for  water,  I  thought  I  would  take  a  dose  of  physic 
that  I  carry  in  my  money  wallet,  that  always  helps 
me.  But  thar's  a  paper  of  red  pison  there  too, 
exactly  the  same  in  looks,  and  put  up  in  exactly 
the  same  way  as  the  other ;  and  I  'm  afeerd  I  have 
taken  a  dose  from  the  wrong  paper,  for  besides 
this  dreadful  sickness  and  vomiting,  thar's  a  burn- 
ing pain  right  h'yur,"  laying  his  hand  on  his 
stomach,  "and  it  gets  wuss  and  wuss  every 
minute." 

Dr.  Gordon  saw  that  the  case  was  urgent,  and 


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120  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

therefore  adapted  his  means  accordingly,  for  the 
man  had  swallowed  arsenic,  and  any  means  adopted 
to  save  his  life,  if  that  were  possible,  must  be  used 
without  delay.  He,  therefore,  ordered  a  fire  kin- 
dled, and  made  the  man  swallow  pint  after  pint 
of  melted  lard,  (this  being  the  only  oily  matter  on 
hand,)  then  of  flour  and  water,  and  of  mustard  and 
salt,  all  tepid,  until  he  had  taken  enough  to  have 
satiated  an  ox,  had  it  not  been  rejected  from  the 
stomach  almost  as  soon  as  received.  In  the  course 
of  half  an  hour,  he  pronounced  him  free  from 
immediate  danger,  though  still  liable  to  severe 
effects  from  the  irritation  of  the  poison. 

Tomkins  thanked  him  for  his  prompt  assistance, 
and  for  the  information  furnished  them  by  his 
treatment  of  a  case  which,  though  rarely  occurring, 
is  always  possible,  and  which  few  people  know 
how  to  manage. 

"  My  success,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  is  attributable 
in  part  to  the  action  of  the  poison  itself,  causing 
its  own  expulsion.  It  is  said  to  be  for  this  reason 
that  while  a  small  dose  of  arsenic  will  kill  a  dog, 
a  large  dose  will  seldom  harm  him." 

*'  What  was  your  object  in  giving  him  the  lard  ?" 
asked  Tomkins. 

"  For  the  double  purpose,"  he  replied,  "  of 
coating  the  stomach  with  grease,  and  of  acting  as 
a  quick  and  powerful  emetic.  It  has  been  often 
noticed  that  fat  hogs  may  swallow  arsenic  in  doses 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  121 

either  large  or  small,  and  may  even  be  bitten  by 
rattlesnakes,  with  impunity.  Its  grease,  when 
abundant,  seems  to  protect  the  parts  from  poison/' 

"  And  would  you  treat  all  cases  of  poison  in 
this  way?" 

"  Were  I  required  to  answer  Yes  or  No,  I  should 
answer  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  for  this  is  the  almost 
universal  rule,  but  some  cases  require  particular 
treatment.*  The  truth  is,  poisons  are  curious 
things.  It  is  said  by  those  who  have  tried  the  ex- 
periment, that  mUJcy  which  you  know  is  perfectly 
harmless  to  most  stomachs,  will  produce  death  if 
injected  into  the  veins;  and  that  the  poison  of  a 
rattlesnake,  which  is  deadly  enough  when  mixed 
with  the  blood,  may  be  received  into  the  stomach 
without  injury.  More  than  this,  there  is  nothing 
more  necessary  to  life  than  air  received  into  the 
lungs ;  yet  if  a  bubble  of  it  were  introduced  into 
the  veins  by  careless  bleeding,  it  would  produce 

*  In  all  cases  of  poisoning,  the  first  aim  should  be  to  nd 
the  tystem  of  the  offensive  matter^  then  to  neutralize  the  poison 
that  remains,  or  to  sheathe  the  parts  against  its  action.  In 
protecting  the  stomach,  the  chief  resort  is  had  to  oil  or 
grease,  white  of  eggs,  paste  gruel  of  flour  and  water,  sugar 
and  water,  etc. 

In  poisoning  from  opium,  the  emetic  should  be  followed 
by  very  strong  coffee  ;  constant  motion,  under  compulsion,  if 
necessary,  and  dashes  of  cold  water  on  the  head  and  breast. 

For  strychnine  (nux  vomica)  in  poisonous  doses,  camphor 
is  used. 


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122  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

instant  death.  So,  you  see,  poisons  are  not  always 
poisons,  and  wholesome  things  are  not  always 
wholesome." 

Simpson  was  a  decided  invalid  for  several  days, 
and  never  recovered  his  looks,  bad  as  they  were, 
so  long  as  he  and  the  others  were  together.  The 
men  seldom  failed,  on  fair  opportunity,  to  rally 
him  upon  his  love  of  physic,  and  from  that  day 
forth  they  dubbed  him  Doctor. 

No  sign  as  yet  appeared  of  the  missing  boat, 
and  no  clue  could  be  obtained  of  either  its  passage 
or  its  fate.  The  spot  w^as  now  passed  abreast  of 
which  it  had  been  seen  by  the  cutter,  and  Dr.  Gor- 
don began  to  feel  very  uneasy  at  discovering  how 
unbroken  the  shoal  was  to  seaward,  and  how 
heavily  the  surf  rolled  over  it  under  all  winds 
from  the  Gulf.  He  feared  that  if  his  young  peo- 
ple had  reached  land  at  all,  they  had  been  com- 
pelled to  continue  much  farther  down  the  coast. 
To  these  apprehensions,  however,  he  gave  no  ex- 
pression, except  by  an  occasional  interchange  of 
thought  with  Tomkins  or  Wheeler,  who,  in  return, 
said  all  they  could  to  fill  him  with  hope. 

A  little  before  sunset  that  evening  they  came  to 
anchor  at  the  south-eastern  extremity  of  a  little 
wooded  key,  which  was  about  one  and  a  half  miles 
long,  by  a  half  or  a  quarter  of  a  mile  broad,  and 
which  was  densely  covered  with  dwarf  palmettos, 
and  other  small  growth,  with  an  occasional  tree  of 


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MAROONER'  S  ISLAND,  123 

larger  proportions.  A  pleasant  location  for  en- 
camping was  selected  under  a  wide-spreading  live 
oak,  whose  umbrageous  canopy  was  so  thickly  lined 
with  masses  and  long  flowing  streamers  of  grey 
moss,  that  the  tents,  though  brought  ashore,  were 
not  pitched,  all  being  satisfied  with  the  leafy  shel- 
ter of  the  tree,  and  the  mild  and  steady  dr^^ness 
of  the  air. 

So  little  work  remained  to  be  done,  that  four 
of  the  men  were  dispatched  to  the  seaward  side 
of  the  island  to  reconnoitre,  and  to  learn  the 
probability  of  water  for  their  next  day's  supply, 
namely :  Wheeler  and  Jones  to  the  north-western 
end ;  Thompson  and  Wildcat  to  the  south-western. 
They  returned  about  dark,  reporting,  "No  wat^r 
to  be  had;''  but  Wheeler  and  Jones  reported 
quantities  of  wild  turkeys,  of  which  they  said 
they  might  have  brought  back  a  shoulder-load  if 
it  had  been  right  for  them  to  shoot ;  and  Thomp- 
son and  Wildcat  each  brought  a  turtle,  which  had 
been  caught  on  the  south-western  beach. 

The  night  was  magnificent.  A  splendid  moon, 
almost  at  the  full,  hanging  over  the  mainland  and- 
the  intervening  belt  of  water,  gave  to  everything 
around  a  soft  and  cheerful  beauty,  while  Jupiter, 
the  brightest  star  of  the  sky,  except  Venus, 
shot  his  silvery  rays  through  the  crevices  of  the 
oak  with  a  persistent  glory  that  seemed  to  convey 
hope  and  courage  by  its  very  steadiness. 


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124  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

By  nine  o'clock  all  were  abed,  except  Thomp- 
son. He  had  been  for  sometime  watching,  without 
being  able  to  understand  it,  a  tinge  of  red  light 
in  the  north  and  northwest,  which  kept  increasing 
until  its  lurid  glare  eclipsed  the  brightness  of  the 
moonlight.  Not  liking  the  appearance,  he  called 
for  Wheeler,  (who  was  sailing  master  by  day  and 
corporal  of  the  guard  by  night,)  and  pointed  it 
out  to  him, — indeed  it  needed  no  pointing  out, 
only  that  a  person  should  be  in  a  position  to  see 
it,  for  the  whole  northern  and  western  horizon 
was  a-blaze  with  light. 

"  It  is  fire  ! "  said  Wheeler.  "  The  whole  island 
is  on  fire,  or  soon  will  be." 

All  hands  were  immediately  roused  from  their 
incipient  slumbers,  and  called  to  the  duty  of  fight- 
ing the  approaching  foe.  So  rapid  had  been  its 
progress  within  the  past  few  minutes,  that  when 
the  men  came  out,  they  could  distinctly  hear  the 
roar,  like  that  of  distant  surf,  or  of  a  coming 
storm,  and  see  the  live  flames  leapitig  into  the  air 
and  dancing  among  the  tree-tops.  The  island 
was  in  a  fearfully  combustible  state.  The  fallen 
and  half  decayed  herbage  of  the  palmetto,  appa- 
rently untouched  by  any  previous  fire,  covered  the 
earth,  like  so  much  tinder,  to  the  depth  of  one, 
two  or  more  inches,  while  the  green,  fan-like  leaves 
rose  to  the  height  of  three  or  four  feet  above  it, 
and  waited  only  a  few  moments'  heat  to  make  them 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  125 

as  inflammable  as  the  stratum  below,  and  the  wind, 
rising,  as  it  usually  does  with  a  fire,  stimulated  the 
flames  to  a  fury  indescribable.  The  men  who 
came  out  at  the  call  of  Tomkins  were  first  aston- 
ished, then  fascinated  w^ith  the  terribly  beautiful 
scene,  and  would  have  looked  at  it  longer  in  eager 
admiration,  but  for  the  voice  of  command — 

"  To  your  work,  men !  You  have  no  time  to 
lose.  Two  of  you — Magruder  and  Thompson — 
carry  back  to  the  beach  such  things  as  are  liable 
to  be  hurt  by  the  fire.  Wheeler  and  Jones,  do 
you  help  me  clear  a  ring  around  the  oak.  Doctor, 
do,  if  you  please,  take  charge  of  the  sick  man,  and 
of  anything  else  that  may  seem  to  you  necessary. 
Wildcat  may  render  his  assistance  to  either  you 
or  me.'' 

The  men  went  to  work  with  a  will,  and  had 
nearly  accomplished  their  several  parts,  when 
Tomkins,  after  a  few  words  with  Wheeler,  re- 
turned to  Dr.  Gordon,  and  said, — 

"I  had  intended  to  fire  the  outside  of  our 
cleared  circle  as  soon  as  it  was  ready,  so  as  to  have 
a  belt  of  burnt  ground  between  us  and  that  roar- 
ing giant  yonder.  But  Wheeler  reminds  me  that 
if  we  start  a  fire  here,  we  may  show  our  enemies 
on  the  main  where  we  are ;  and  as  we  probably 
have  time  enough,  I  propose  to  fire  first  the  western 
side,  just  across  the  island  from  us,  that  it  may 
seem  as  if  the  fire  from  our  camp  comes  from  a 


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126  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

spark  blown  from  the  other  side.  Will  you  let 
Wildcat  go  with  Wheeler  for  this  purpose?" 

"Assuredly,"  w^as  the  reply;  and  in  less  than  a 
minute,  the  two  were  forcing  their  way  through 
the  tangled  undergrowth.  They  had  not  made 
half  the  distance  ere  they  had  impressive  evidence 
of  the  progress  of  the  conflagration.  A  whizzing 
sound  overhead  caused  them  to  look  upward,  and 
they  saw  a  large  gang  of  wild  turkeys,  that  had 
been  running  before  the  fire,  rise  on  meeting  them, 
and  take  refuge  in  the  trees ;  after  which  a  tram- 
pling announced  something  on  the  ground,  and  a 
herd  of  deer  passed  careering  wildly  through  the 
undergrowth,  and  behind  them  they  heard  the 
whine  of  a  pup,  and  saw  a  she-wolf  bearing  in 
her  mouth  a  crying,  and,  no  doubt,  half-burnt 
whelp. 

"  Poor  brutes,"  said  Wheeler,  "  there  is  many  a 
one  suffering  to-night,  particularly  of  the  young 
deer  and  squirrels.  Who  would  have  expected  so 
much  loss  and  suffering  from  so  small  a  spark." 

The  fire,  beginning  at  the  north  end  of  the 
island,  and  driven  by  a  wind  from  the  west,  had 
spread  rapidly  east  and  slowly  south,  until  it 
appeared  like  an  immense  seine  of  fire  stretched 
across  the  island,  driving  everything  before  it  that 
had  life,  and  swinging  round  upon  its  right  staff. 

Observing  the  progress  southward  to  be  much 
more  rapid  on  the  east  than  on  the  west  side  of 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  127 

the  island,  Wheeler  took  advantage  of  the  first 
open  place  to  start  his  fire,  then  called  to  Wildcat 
to  unite  with  him  in  a  speedy  return  to  camp  by 
way  of  the  southern  beach. 

On  their  way,  and  while  yet  a  quarter*  of  a  mile 
distant,  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  Sergeant  giving 
orders,  then  a  confused  sound  of  several  voices 
together,  in  the  midst  of  which  came  the  report 
of  one,  then  of  two  other  muskets. 

"I'm  afraid,"  said  Wheeler,  "there  is  trouble 
in  camp.     Let  us  run.'' 

They  came  at  full  speed,  which  was  not  slack- 
ened by  observing  that  the  light  at  the  camp 
flashed  up  into  a  momentary  glare,  attended  with 
another  confusion  of  voices.  On  arriving,  they 
saw  that  the  fire  had  overleaped  the  clear  ring 
which  had  been  made,  and  had  extended  down  to 
the  beach,  where  the  articles  had  been  sent  to  be 
out  of  danger,  but  where,  unfortunately,  there 
was  a  little  patch  of  tall  grass  that  took  fire  and 
conveyed  it  to  the  tent  and  some  other  combustible 
materials  heaped  together  on  shore.  This  was 
not  the  result  of  carelessness,  but  of  accident — a 
sudden  whirlwind,  created  by  the  heat  of  a  burn- 
ing tree-lap,  (as  the  head  of  a  fallen  tree  is  called,) 
had  carried  some  cinders  beyond  their  usual 
bounds,  and  set  on  fire  the  part  supposed  to  be 
safe. 

On  the  alarm  being  raised,  the  men  rushed  back 


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128  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

to  save  their  goods,  but  not  in  time  for  the  tents 
and  some  valuable  articles  of  clothing.  A  stack 
of  muskets  had  also  been  reached  by  the  fire,  and 
were  so  badly  scorched  that  one  of  them  was  dis- 
charged, throwing  down  the  others,  so  that  they 
exploded  also,  together  with  a  cartridge-box  of 
one  of  the  men. 

To  increase  the  confusion,  a  blind  wolf — ren- 
dered so  by  the  heat  and  smoke  through  which 
she  had  passed,  or  else  by  the  discharge  of  the 
muskets  (for  she  appeared  at  the  moment  they 
exploded) — sprang  in  among  the  men,  snarling 
furiously  and  snapping  at  their  legs,  until  she 
was  arrested  by  being  pinned  to  the  earth  with  a 
bayonet. 

The  loss,  however,  which  was  most  seriously 
felt  at  the  moment  by  the  men,  thirsting  intensely 
from  their  hot  work,  was  that  of  their  drinking- 
water  ;  for  Thompson,  in  his  Irish  haste  to  ex- 
tinguish the  burning  tents  and  clothing,  had 
emptied  the  contents  of  the  runlet  by  bucket-fulls 
upon  the  flames  where  most  needed. 

For  a  time,  the  smoke,  prevailing  from  the 
north  and  west,  threatened  to  drive  them  all  from 
the  island ;  but,  at  last,  the  land-breeXe,  gaining 
the  ascendancy,  enabled  them  to  breathe  freely, 
and  to  think  of  resting.  And  it  was  time,  for 
midnight  had  now  come,  and  in  five  hours  would 
arrive  the  light  of  another  day,  and  the  call  for 
renewed  labor. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  129 

All  assembled  under  the  oak,  which  was  now 
their  only  shelter,  and,  as  soon  as  they  were  suflS- 
ciently  composed,  the  Sergeant  said,  — 

"There  are  two  points  of  business  requiring 
our  attention  before  we  go  to  sleep:  one  is,  to 
determine  what  we  shall  do  for  water;  and  the 
other  is,  to  learn  how  that  fire  in  the  woods  got 
out."     To  which  Wheeler  promptly  responded, — 

"  I  wish,  Sergeant,  that  I  could  «peak  to  the 
first  point  as  certainly  as  I  can  to  the  second.  I 
have  seen  no  signs  of  fresh  water  on  the  island, 
though  I  suppose,  from  the  deer  and  turkeys  we 
met,  that  there  must  be  some  somewhere.  As  for 
the  fire,  I  am  pretty  sure  it  came  from  my  pipe. 
When  Jones  and  I  got  to  the  nor'west  end  of  the 
island  last  evening,  we  felt  pretty  tired;  so  we 
lighted  our  pipes  and  sat  on  a  log  to  rest.  My 
pipe  had  in  it  only  tobacco  enough  for  a  few 
whiffs,  so  when  it  ceased  giving  smoke,  I  knocked 
out  the  ashes  on  the  log,  not  dreaming  there  was 
a  live  spark  in  it.  And  that  is  how  the  fire  got 
out." 

"A  costly  smoke,"  said  Tomkins,  "but  one 
that  we  shall  have  to  txcuse." 

"  It  was  a  bigger  one  than  I  intended  when  I 
struck  *  my  match,"  rejoined  Wheeler ;  "  and  sorry 

*We  use  the  word  ** struck*^  in  deference  to  the  present 
mode  of  originating  fire.     No  doubt  this  term  wiU  change 
in  the  course  of  time,  so  as  to  express  some  other  mode,  not 
I 


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130  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

enough  I  am  for  it.  But  it  is  only  a  circum- 
stance  compared  with  what  I  saw  once  on  the 
prairies/' 

"  We  must  remember  that,  and  call  for  it.  some 
other  time/'  said  Dr.  Gordon.  "  In  the  meantime, 
we  must  inquire  about  water." 

'^  I  have  a  canteen  full  of  it,  in  the  boat,''  said 
Thompson,  "  and  the  company  are  welcome  to  all 
of  it,  except  one  drink." 

"  I  have  a  canteen  of  it,  too,"  added  Magruder ; 
"  I  '11  save  one  drink  and  give  the  rest  away." 

"  I,  too,"  said  Wildcat,  with  a  merry  laugh,  in 
which  everybody  joined,  and  in  the  midst  of  which 
Dr.  Gordon  observed, — 

*^  I  do  not  know  how  fair  it  would  be  in  us, 
who  have  no  canteens  of  water,  to  accept  the  offer 
of  those  who  have,  for  this  would  be  giving  us 
three  drinks  apiece  to  their  one;  for  I  see  that 
Simpson  also  is  supplied." 

The  question  about  water  was  settled  for  the 
night.  It  was  understood  that  the  next  day's 
supply  should  be  sought  in  the  morning,  but 
the  adventures  for  the  night  were  not  quite  over. 

"  I  have  often  heard,"  said  Magruder,  "  that  it 

fts  yet  in  vogue.  In  the  year  1831,  the  most  approved 
matches,  known  as  '*  Lucifers,'*  were  **  drawn**  through  a 
fold  of  sand-paper ;  though  many  people  continued  still  to 
" dip**  h\  tk  vial  of  sulphuric  acid,  or  of  phosphorus,  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  preparation.  Flint  and  steel,  with 
tinder,  were  also  in  common  use. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  131 

IS  an  ill  wind  that  blows  nobody  any  good ;  but 
IM  like  to  know  what  good  is  blowed  to  anybody 
by  the  fire  to-night?" 

"This  good,  at  least,"  said  Wheeler,  quickly, 
"  though  I  am  sorry  to  buy  it  at  such  cost,  that 
we  shall  have  no  trouble  from  mosquitoes.  There 
were  plenty  of  them  when  we  landed." 

"And  another  good,"  added  Jones,  looking 
rather  mischievously  at  Thompson,  and  alluding 
to  a  peculiarity  he  had  boasted  of  his  native  isle 
in  being  free  from  the  annoyance  of  serpents,  "  is 
that  we  shall  not  have  any  trouble  from  rattle- 
snakes." 

Scarcely  had  he  said  this,  however,  before 
Tomkins  sung  out :  "  Take  care,  men !  there  is  one 
now !"  and,  sure  enough,  there,  within  a  yard  of 
Thompson,  lay  a  huge  rattle-snake,  drawn  up  in 
his  coil,  and  shaking  his  rattles  at  a  most  signifi- 
cant rate.  He  had  been  driven  from  his  hole 
under  a  burning  log,  and  had  come  into  the 
cleared  circle  to  escape  the  fire.  The  scared  Irish- 
man, with  an  exclamation  of  horror,  leaped  in- 
stantly away,  and  was  barely  in  time  to  escape  the 
fangs  of  the  venomous  reptile,  which  threw  itself 
forward  a  full  yard  and  a  half  to  strike  him.  The 
next  moment,  however,  it  lay  motionless  under  a 
well-timed  blow  across  the  neck  from  Jones'  ram- 
rod— for  it  is  very  easily  killed  by  a  blow  on 
that  part.    On  being  examined,  it  was  ascertained 


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132  MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

to  be  five  and  a  half  feet  long,  and  to  weigh  about 
ten  pounds.     Its  tail  contained  fourteen  rattles. 

This  incident  closed  the  history  of  the  night- 
All  hands,  worn  out  with  unusual  labor  and  late 
hours,  were  ready  for  sleep,  and  all  slept  soundly, 
except  Thompson,  whose  occasional  movements 
and  muttered  exclamations  proved  that  he  was 
dreaming  of  snakes. 


j^ 


CHAPTER  XI I. 

DETAIL  TO  LOOK  FOR  WATER  AGAIN— THE  RAC- 
COON—WILDCAT'S MERRY  PRANKS— THE  CAP- 
TURED SQUIRRELS— HABITS  OF  THE  RACCOON- 
NEWS  FROM  THE  YOUNG  MAROONERS,  AND  POS- 
SIBLE NEWS  OF  RILEY  AND  SAM. 

T  was  a  weary-looking  company  that 
arose  from  their  bivouac  under  the  oak 
on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  October 
30,  1831.  But  a  sense  of  weariness 
soon  gave  way  to  merriment,  on  seeing  how  oddly 
each  looked  in  his  last  night^s  costume  of  dust 
and  smoke. 

"  Our  first  duty  this  morning  is  to  obtain  water 
to  drink,"  said  Sergeant  Tomkins.  **  If  we  can- 
not obtain  it  on  this  key,  we  must  at  once  seek  it 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  133 

elsewhere.  Corporal  Wheeler  will  please  choose 
some  man  to  accompany  him  on  another  tour 
along  the  western  beach ;  and  Mr.  Morgan  *  has 
proved  himself  so  expert  in  water-works,  that,  if 
Dr.  Gordon  permit,  I  will  send  him  with  a  com- 
panion along  the  eastern  shore,  (Dr.  Gordon  bowed 
assent,)  and  he  will  also  pick  his  man  for  this 
purpose.  Neither  party  must  be  absent  over  an 
hour." 

Scarcely  had  the  sergeant  ceased  speaking  before 
Wildcat,  in  response  to  a  sly  wink  of  invitation 
from  his  friend,  said,  "  I  pick  Jones." 

*^  And  I  choose  Thompson,  my  comrade  in  mis- 
fortune last  night,"  said  Wheeler. 

The  parties  immediately  separated,  each  having 
several  extra  canteens  for  water,  slung  over  their 
shoulders,  and  also  furnished  with  some  woollen 
and  fine  linen  as  a  filter  to  the  mouth  of  the  can- 
teens, in  case  of  need.  In  the  meantime,  the  party 
at  the  tree  prepared  breakfast  and  reloaded  the 
barge  ready  for  departure.  The  explorers  re- 
turned within  the  limited  time,  bringing  a  supply 
of  water,  it  is  true,  but  none  which  they  could 
report  as  being  more  than  barely  endurable. 

Wheeler  and  Thompson,  in  addition  to  their 
supplies  of  water,  bore  upon  their  shoulders  a 
pole,  on  which  hung  a  very  large  turtle,  tied  by 

*  Willy  Wildcat  would  hardly  be  recognized  under  his 
official  title,  without  some  notification. 


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134  MAROONER'8  ISLAND. 

the  legs  with  silk  grass,*  the  long,  tough  leaves 
of  which,  an  inch  wide  and  one  or  two  feet  long, 
form  excellent  wild-wood  ties,  capable  of  support- 
ing each  from  one  to  two  hundred  pounds'  weight. 
This  turtle  was  laid  comfortably  on  its  back  beside 
the  others  taken  the  evening  before,  and  promised 
an  abundant  supply  of  delicious  steaks,  and  stews, 
and  broils,  which  the  most  fastidious  epicure  might 
envy. 

When  Jones  and  Wildcat  came  into  camp,  there 
were  exclamations  of  another  sort.  On  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  first  sat  demurely  what  Thompson,  at 
first,  took  for  a  fox,  then  for  a  wildcat,  with  a 
sharp  face  strongly  marked  with  black  stripes, 
then  for  a  kind  of  ring-tailed  monkey,  but  which 
proved  to  be,  what  he  had  never  before  seen,  a 
young  raccoon.  Jones  had  espied  it  perched  in 
the  fork  of  a  small  persimmon-tree,  looking  very 
disconsolately  on  the  sea  of  ashes  and  cinders 
around,  some  of  which  still  smoked,  and  seemed 
to  keep  the  poor  brute  in  mortal  fear.  On  being 
approached,  it  made  no  attempt  to  escape,  and 
offered  no  resistance  to  capture,  but  seemed  to  hail 
with  delight  the  approach  of  deliverance.  A  few 
leaves  of  the  bear-grass  (silk-grass)  were  woven,  • 

*  Known  also  as  bear-grass — the  Timca  filamentosa  of 
botanists  —  having  filaments  of  thread  stretching  from  end 
to  end  of  the  leaf,  and  almost  equal  in  toughness  to  the  sinew 
fibres  of  the  deer. 


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JONES  AND  THE  COON,  WILD  CAT  AND  THE  SQUIRREL. 
—  Page  134. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  135 

as  they  walked,  into  both  collar  and  cord,  by 
which  it  was  for  the  time  made  secure. 

Some  of  the  men  thought  it  was  a  shame  that 
Jones  did  not  give  to  Wildcat  the  pet  which 
seemed  so  much  better  suited  to  a  boy  than  a 
man.  But  when  one  of  them  was  preparing  to 
express  himself  to  this  effect,  there  appeared  a 
mysterious  commotion  in  Wildcat's  pouch,  (occu- 
pying a  place  like  a  Highlander's,  over  the  pit  of 
the  stomach,)  which  caused  him  to  press  his  hand 
hastily  there,  saying  as  he  did  so, — 

"  Wy-gus-chay  !  "  (the  Muscogee  for  "  quit 
that!") 

Then  turning  to  Thompson  a  face  that  seemed 
to  be  writhing  with  pain  and  pleading  for  sym- 
pathy, he  exclaimed,  with  a  terrible  groan,  "  Oh ! 
he  bite !  I  feel  him  gnaw ! " 

The  Irishman  began  to  be  seriously  concerned 
for  his  dusky  friend,  and  was  about  to  call  Dr. 
Gordon,  when  the  artful  boy,  satisfied  with  this 
exhibition  of  his  powers  of  acting,  threw  off  from 
his  countenance  the  mask  of  pain,  and  bursting 
into  a  laugh  at  the  success  of  his  joke,  so  well 
suited  to  a  young  savage,  he  added, — 

^'He  bite!  he  gnaw!  but  he  don't  hurt!" 
then,  putting  his  hand  into  the  pouch,  he  drew 
thence  a  beautiful  squirrel,  nearly  half-grown, 
which  he  proceeded  to  place  upon  his  shoulder, 
and  to  supply  with  a  piece  of  cracked  hickory 


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136  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

nut.  The  graceful  little  thing,  after  one  start  of 
surprise,  and  a  quick  dash  under  the  fold  of  the 
buckskin  hunting-shirt,  to  hide  itself  from  the 
unexpected  crowd,  took  its  place  with  a  perfectly 
home-like  air  upon  Wildcat's  shoulder,  curled  its 
tail  upon  its  back,  in  the  shape  of  the  letter  S, 
and  proceeded  composedly  to  eat  its  nut. 

While  thus  engaged,  Magruder  who  had  been 
absent,  came  from  the  beach  and  joined  the  com- 
pany, when  there  began  to  be  another  commotion 
in  the  pouch,  another  pressing  of  the  hand  upon 
it,  and  other  exclamations  and  writhings  as  before, 
with  the  eyes  turned  now  towards  the  new-comer ; 
but  the  Scotchman  was  too  wary  to  be  caught  by 
such  appearances.  He  merely  smiled  a  grim 
acknowledgment  of  having  detected  .the  snare, 
and  then  Wildcat,  inserting  his  hand  into  the 
pouch,  drew  out  another  squirrel,  the  mate  of  the 
first,  and  placed  it  with  a  piece  of  nut  upon  the 
other  shoulder. 

Upon  inquiry  by  some  of  the  lookers-on,  it  was 
ascertained  that  soon  after  the  capture  of  the  Cooriy 
the  squirrels  were  discovered  by  Wildcat  on  a 
small  tree,  from  which  they  evidently  wished  to 
escape,  but  dared  not,  on  account  of  the  terrible- 
looking  bed  of  ashes.  The  two  explorers  went  to 
the  tree,  and  standing  one  on  each  side,  held  out 
their  hands  in  an  inviting  way,  saying,  in  soft, 
encouraging    tones,    "  Bunny !     Bunny !     Petty  ! 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  137 

Petty !  '^  when  the  little,  trustful  things,  seeming 
to  understand  the  language  of  tone  and  gesture, 
actually  came  down  the  tree,  smelt  of  the  extended 
hands,  and  allowed  themselves  to  be  taken  *  and 
placed  in  Wildcat's  pouch.  As  soon  as  their  thirst 
was  relieved,  for  they  are  large  drinkers,  and 
seemed  to  have  suffered  much  for  the  want  of 
water,  they  were  supplied  with  a  handful  of  sweet 
acorns  from  the  live-oak,  poured  into  the  pouch, 
after  eating  which,  at  their  leisure,  each  rolled  it- 
self into  a  ball,  and  slept  until  the  captors  re- 
turned to  camp. 

Both  these  varieties  of  pets  became  great  favor- 
ites with  the  men,  and  friends  to  each  other.  The 
squirrels  enjoyed  the  full  freedom  of  the  barge, 
and  would  chase  each  other  up  and  down  the  rig- 
ging, and  from  shoulder  to  shoulder  of  the  men, 
and  dive  into  their  pockets  after  nuts  and  other 
eatables.  The  raccoon,  being  naturally  of  a 
more  staid  and  dignified  demeanor,  was  at  first 
annoyed  at  having  the  little  frolicsome  squirrels 
leap  upon  its  back,  and  clamber  on  its  head, 
and  showed  some  signs  of  displeasure,  but  it  also 
soon  became  reconciled,  like  a  good  philosopher, 
to  what  it  could  not  help,  and  finally  began  to  toy 
with  its   little  companions   in   return.      It  soon 

*  This  is  not  a  mere  sketch  from  fancy.  The  writer  wit- 
nessed a  similar  scene  only  a  few  days  before  this  paragraph 
was  written. 


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138  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

learned  the  way  both  to  the  supply  of  crackers 
and  ship-bread,  and  to  the  water-can,  and,  accord- 
ing to  its  peculiar  habits,  would  always  soak  its 
dry  food  in  water  before  eating.*  Nobody's 
pocket,  and  no  box  nor  little  hole  where  anything 
could  be  kept,  was  safe  from  the  sly  intrusion  of 
its  paws. 

On  leaving  their  fire-marked  and  thirsty  island, 
the  boat's  crew  made  directly  for  the  main,  and 
they  had  not  sailed  many  hours  along  its  beach 
before  the  now  raging  thirst  of  the  men  was 
allayed  by  a  large  supply  of  the  sweetest  and 
coolest  water  they  had  found  since  leaving  Tampa. 
Ah,  how  delicious  is  good  water !  We,  who  live 
in  this  land  of  fountains  and  of  rivers,  can  no 
more  appreciate  it  than  most  people  appreciate 
the  blessed  light  of  the  sun  and  the  free  breath 
of  heaven.  None  but  asthmatics  can  properly 
estimate  the  last,  and  none  but  the  temporarily 
blind,  the  first.  Yet  Solomon  knew  how  to  value 
good  water.  With  all  his  wisdom  and  his  wealth, 
he'must,  some  time  or  other,  have  been  thirsty,  or 
he  could  not  have  penned  the  words :  "  As  cold 
water  to  a  thirsty  soul,  so  is  good  news  from  a  far 

*  It  is  this  peculiarity  whicli  caused  the  raccoon  to  be 
known  by  naturalists  as  Lotor,  or  washer,  Ursm  Loior ;  for 
it  was  classed  by  Linnaeus  in  the  general  family  of  bears, 
on  account  of  its  carnivorous  and  frugivorous  habits,  and 
its  plantigrade  foot,  which  means  its  habit  of  walking  flat- 
footed. 


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MAROONER'8  ISLAND.  139 

country."  *  The  man  who  wrote  that  must  have 
drawn  his  picture  from  experience.  We  almost 
partake  the  enjoyment  of  the  royal  writer  as  he 
lifts  to  his  eager  lips  a  jewelled  cup,  filled  with 
water  from  David's  well  at  f  Bethlehem,  and  dewy 
with  cold  from  the  snows  of  Hermon. 

Nothing  more  of  special  interest  occurred  till 
late  in  the  day.  .  The  key,  inside  of  which  they 
were  then  passing,  stretched  its  low,  sandy  barrier 
so  far  southward,  that  Dr.  Gordon  was  apprehen- 
sive lest  the  missing  boat  might  pass  them  unob- 
served upon  the  Gulf  side.  He,  therefore,  re- 
quested that  some  one  might  be  sent  to  the  west- 
ern beach  to  reconnoitre ;  and  Wheeler,  who  was 
regarded  by  all  as  being  peculiarly  fitted  for 
duties  of  this  sort,  on  account  of  his  keen  observa^ 
tion,  was  detailed  for  the  purpose.  He  was  gone 
much  longer  than  was'  expected,  and  though  he 
could  be  occasionally  seen  ascending  some  wind- 
raised  hillock  of  sand,  and  directing  his  spy-glass 
down  the  coast,  the  only  answer  he  gave  to  the 
signal  of  inquiry  made  from  the  barge,  was  a  wave 
of  the  hand,  signalling  in  return  that  the  barge 
should  pass  slowly  down  the  inside  beach. 

For  a  time  the  hearts  of  all  beat  high  with  hope 

that  he  had  spied  the  lost  company ;  but  this  was 

dissipated   under  the  inquiry,  "If  so,  why  not 

come  and  report  the  fact?"     No,  he  was  mani- 

*  Proy.  XXV.  25.  f  2  Samuel,  xxiii.  16. 


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140  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

festly  detained  by  some  other  reason,  and  their 
curiosity  was  excited  to  a  pretty  high  pitch  when, 
after  a  longer  disappearance  than  usual,  he  was 
seen  walking  with  rapid  steps  towards  the  barge, 
having  something  in  his  hand  covered  with  a  large 
bandanna  handkerchief,  as  if  for  concealment. 

With  a  grave,  yet  highly  pleased  expression  of 
countenance,  Wheeler  went  directly  to  Dr.  Gordon 
and  said, — 

"Captain,  what  would  you  think  of  my  bring- 
ing you  a  message  direct  from  your  children?" 

Dr.  Gordon  turned  somewhat  pale,  and  his  voice 
almost  choked  as  he  asked, — 

"Are  they  here?'' 

Wheeler  was  troubled  to  see  how  much  more 
of  hope  had  been  excited  by  his  words  than  he  in- 
tended, and  he  hastily  replied, — 

"  No,  they  are  not  here.  I  wish  they  were ;  but 
here  is  a  message  from  them  which  I  doubt  not 
will  give  you  joy." 

He  then  unwrapped  from  its  envelope  and  put 
into  Dr.  Gordon's  hands  a  little  vessel,  nicely 
carved  out  of  a  piece  of  white  cedar,  and  ballasted 
with  buckshot  so  as  to  right  itself  upon  the  water, 
even  after  being  upset.  The  little  sails  were  so 
rigged  that  whenever  she  "  yawed,"  as  sailors  call 
the  turning  of  a  vessel  out  of  "her  course,  she  would 
"  luff  up  "  into  the  wind,  or  run  before  it  as  the 
case  might  be,  but  always  keep  moving.     On  its 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  141 

tiny  flag  of  white  silk  was  the  word  "  Hope/'  and 
on  the  smootli  white  deck  were  deeply  pencilled, 
in  a  female  hand,  the  words : — 

"Schooner  Hope. 

Harold  Mcintosh,  Builder ;  Robert  Gift-don,  Rig- 
ger ;  Mary  Gordon,  Sail-maker ;  Frank  Gordon, 
Captain  and  Supercargo. 

Bound  from  Marooner's  Island  to  Bellevue,  Tam- 
pa, with  a  full  freight  of  love  and  good  wishes.'' 

This  precious  little  toy  Dr.  Gordon  took  into 
his  hands,  and,  with  all  the  composure  he  could 
command,  examined  in  every  part.  Not  a  word 
was  exchanged  between  him  and  the  rest,  only  a 
few  whispers  and  low  murmurs  of  the  voice,  be- 
ginning with  Wheeler,  conveyed  from  man  to  man 
the  general  fact  that  the  young  marooners  had  been 
heard  from.  Unable  longer  to  control  his  feelings, 
Dr.  Gordon  drew  back  as  far  as  possible  from  ob- 
servation, covered  his  face  with  both  hands,  and 
trembled  with  emotion,  while  the  men,  who  used 
every  excuse  for  looking  in  an  opposite  direction, 
could  not  help  seeing  an  occasional  tear  trickle 
through  his  fingers.' 

As  soon  as  the  Doctor  had  finished  his  exami- 
nation, and  had  laid  the  little  vessel  on  the  seat, 
Tomkins  took  it  up,  scrutinized  its  various  parts, 
then  passed  it  to  the  men.  Poor  Wildcat,  who 
could  not  read,  and  who  was,  beyond  comparison, 


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142  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

the  most  powerfully  excited  person  aboard,  except 
Dr.  Gordon,  looked  pleadingly  to  his  friend  Jones 
to  read  and  explain  to  him  every  word.  Then  the 
men  began  to  talk,  first  in  low  whispers,  then  in 
an  under-tone,  and  at  last  more  freely,  until  they 
had  exchanged  thoughts  upon  all  the  points  con* 
nected  with  the  little  vessel  and  its  launchers 
The  conclusions  at  which  they  seemed  satisfactorily 
to  arrive,  and  which  Dr.  Gordon  was  much  inter- 
ested to  hear,  although  he  had  not  as  yet  allowed 
himself  to  say  a  word,  were:  — 

1st.  That  the  missing  company  had  reached 
land  in  safety ; 

2d.  That  the  land  they  had  reached  was  an 
island  ,* 

3d.  That  this  island  could  not  be  very  far  away ; 

4th.  That  when  that  vessel  was  made  and 
launched,  the  young  people  were  at  leisure,  in  good 
spirits,  and  in  no  fear ; 

5th.  That  this  toy  had  probably  been  made 
and  launched  within  the  past  two  days. 

These  conclusions,  which  tallied  closely  with 
those  of  his  own  mind,  were  very  comforting  to 
the  grief-stricken  father,  and  caused  him  to  feel 
very  near  to  his  lost  ones.  There  were  some 
other  questions  also  discussed  by  the  men  on  which 
there  was  a  strong  division  of  opinion.   These  were : 

Ist.  Whether  that  island  lay  to  the  north  or 
the  south  of  their  present  position. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAJH^D.  143 

2d.  Whether  the  young  people  were  most  pro- 
bably then  upon  the  island,  or  had  left  it  and  re- 
turned to  Tampa. 

3d.  Whether,  therefore,  it  was  worth  while  to 
continue  their  search  down  the  coast ;  and  whether 
it  were  not  better  to  turn  northward,  and  to  search 
the  coast  on  their  way  home. 

These  several  points  were  freely  discussed,  and 
some  important  facts  adduced  about  currents  and 
counter-currents  in  the  Gulf;  but  when,  after  dis- 
cussing the  third  point,  some  one  appealed  to  Dr. 
Gordon  to  know  whether  he  thought  best  to  re- 
turn to  Tampa,  or  to  keep  down  the  coast,  his 
reply  was — 

"  To  keep  down  the  coast.  My  impression  is,'' 
said  he,  "  that  they  are  still  below  us." 

This  decided  the  question  about  the  voyage. 

In  addition  to  what  had  been  said,  Wheeler  took 
occasion  to  remark  that  one  reason  why  his  ex- 
ploring tour  upon  the  Gulf  side  of  the  key  had 
been  so  much  prolonged,  was  that  he  could  catch 
occasional  glimpses  of  some  object  far  south  which 
seemed  to  him  like  a  canoe  with  two  persons 
aboard.  Thinking  that  they  might  be  Dr.  Gor- 
don's negro  man,  in  company  with  Riley,  he  had 
tried,  by  ascending  the  most  elevated  points  of  the 
key,  to  obtain  a  better  view  of  them,  but  the  cur- 
vature of  the  earth  hid  from  him  all  but  the  head 
and  shoulders  of  the  men,  if  indeed  they  were 
men,  as  he  supposed. 


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144  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

Towards  sunset  they  approached  another  low 
island  of  pines,  where  they  landed  and  prepared 
to  encamp  for  the  night. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  EMERALD  ISLE  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS— AT- 
TACK AND  DEFENCE— MUSQUITOS  AND  O ALU- 
NIPPERS— INGENIOUS  DEVICES— MUSQUITO  KEY 
—PLANS  FOR  THE  DA  Y— ADIEU  TO  MUSQUITO  KEY 
—CAPTURE  OF  FLYING  FISH— SIMPLE  SERVICES 
—  WORSHIP—  WHAT  IS  ITt 

F  all  the  places  for  encampment  which 
they  had  found  since  leaving  Tampa, 
the  one  selected  this  evening  seemed  for 
a  time  the  most  promising  of  comfort. 
At  a  distance,  its  dense  growth  of  low,  stunted 
pines,  and  its  glassy  surrounding  of  shining  water, 
made  it  appear  like  a  great  emerald  set  in  a  sur- 
face of  crystal.  And  when  they  landed,  the  bal- 
samic fragrance  of  the  trees  was  refreshing,  and 
the  measureless  profusion  of  straw-like  leaves  over- 
spreading the  ground,  and  drifted  here  and  there 
by  the  wind  into  soft  luxurious  beds,  promised  all 
that  men,  wearied  as  they  were,  could  ask  for  a 
night's  repose. 

They  landed  early,  and  early  made  ready  for 
orders  to   "turn   in,''   but  they  received  at  the 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  145 

same  time  decided  information  that  no  sleep 
was  to  be  enjoyed  there  that  night,  except  by  the 
use  of  some  uncommon  means.  For  with  the  in» 
crease  of  darkness,  increased  also  the  swarms  of 
rausquitos  with  which  the  island  was  in  no  ordi- 
nary degree  infested.  Whether  numbers  made 
them  bold,  or  famine  made  them  desperate,  they 
did  not  come  with  the  usual  modest  song  of  the 
musquito  of  other  places,  serenading  first  their 
intended  victims,  then  timidly  alighting  on  some 
exposed  part,  and  seeming,  by  their  hesitation, 
almost  to  ask  the  privilege  of  sucking  an  evening's 
meal  of  blood ;  these  gave  no  concerts  and  asked 
no  permission,  but  with  the  "  Whing !"  of  a  rifle 
ball,  and  with  the  directness  of  one,  pitched  at 
once  upon  the  spot  selected,  and  then,  quick  as 
thought,  pushed  their  little  poisonous  bills  into 
the  rich  fountains  underlying  the  skin. 

It  has  been  remarked  by  some  one  as  a  great 
pity  that  these  insects  cannot  draw  their  coveted 
supplies  of  blood  without  first  diluting  it  by  the 
injection  of  their  painful  poison;*  for  most  per- 
sons would  submit   patiently  to  a  mere  loss  of 

*  It  is  said  that  the  stinging  musqnitoes  are  all  females; 
that  the  blood  they  suck  is  necessary  to  the  production  of 
their  eggs ;  and  that  each  female  asks  but  one  full  meal  to  en- 
able her  to  fulfil  her  course.  The  males,  distinguishable  by 
their  slender  bodies  and  delicately  plumed  heads,  do  iiofc 
Bling. 

K 


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146  MAROOKER'S    ISLAND, 

blood  suflBcient  to  feed  a  regiment  of  them,  rather 
than  keep  up  the  constant  fight  necessary  for  de- 
fence. But,  no,  the  first  intimation  of  their  stealthy 
phlebotomy  given  after  their  complimentary  sere- 
nade, is  a  sharp,  stinging  pain  in  the  spot  attacked, 
and  a  constant  itching  and  burning  for  minutes 
afterwards.  True,  if  let  alone  until  the  meal  is 
finished,  each  musquito  will  suck  out  most  of  its 
own  poison  along  with  the  blood,  so  as  to  leave 
scarcely  any  trace  of  its  visit;  but  few  persons 
have  fortitude  enough  to  endure  the  torment. 

The  musquitoes  of  this  island  were  as  remark- 
able for  their  energy  and  adroitness  as  for  their 
boldness  and  numbers.  They  not  only  attacked 
those  parts  of  the  person  where  the  skin  was  ex- 
posed, but  the  larger  variety,  known  as  gallinip- 
pers,  pushed  their  probosces  through  the  thinner 
parts  of  the  clothing,  and  some  of  the  men  de- 
clared with  all  seriousness  that  they  had  been  ac- 
tually bitten  through  the  pores  of  their  boots.* 

The  annoyance  was  so  great  that  every  avail- 
able means  was  used  for  defence.  First  of  all, 
there  were  several  bright  fires  kindled  and  kept 
up  at  some  distance  to  the  leeward  of  the  bivouac, 
for  the  purpose  of  decoying  the  insects  thither  to 
their  destruction.  The  expedient,  however,  was 
of  doubtful  utility,  for  though  many  were  thus 

*  This  is  no  exaggeration  of  the  powers  of  the  gallinipper, 
as  many  persons  can  testify. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  147 

led  off,  and  some  of  them  destroyed,  many  more 
were  attracted  from  a  distance  that  probably  would 
never  have  come  but  for  the  light.  Another  plan, 
much  more  effectual,  was  that  of  a  smoke  to  the 
windward.  A  quantity  of  gray  moss,  and  of  green 
pine-leaves,  was  amassed,  and  a  small  pile  of  it 
was  heaped  upon  a  thoroughly  burning  brand  and 
renewed  whenever  necessary.  By  this  means  was 
produced  a  dense,  continuous  smoke  which  was 
tolerable,  if  not  pleasant,  to  the  men,  but  intoler- 
able to  the  musquitoes.  There  were  three  such 
smokes  kept  up  within  ten  feet  of  the  sleep- 
ing-places. Yet  neither  was  this  device  effectual, 
except  in  part.  These  being  the  only  plans  of  a 
public  character  that  could  be  thought  of,  the  Ser- 
geant announced  to  the  men  that  each  must  now 
exercise  his  own  ingenuity  in  devising  modes  of 
individual  defence.  And  it  was  almost  laughable 
to  see  some  of  the  plans  adopted. 

Simpson,  who  by  this  time  was  nearly  well 
again,  took  from  his  private  stores  a  lump  of  deer 
suet,  with  which  he  gave  a  heavy  coating  of  grease 
to  every  portion  of  his  skin  exposed  to  attack,  re- 
marking, — 

"  They  can  stand  smoke,  but  they  can't  stand 
grease.'' 

Jones  had  been  thoughtful  enough  just  before 
dark  to  gather  several  handfuls  of  pennyroyal,  a 
strongly  aromatic  plant,  with  which  he  rubbed 
his  face,  neck  and  hands,  saying,  — 


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148  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"  I  know  it  will  keep  off  fleas,  and  I  reckon 
the  rausquitoes  will  not  fancy  it  much." 

Before  the  company  had  gone  to  sleep  he  was 
heard  to  laugh  rather  merrily,  and  on  being  asked 
the  reason,  replied, — 

"  I  am  laughing  at  the  rausquitoes.  Not  a  fel- 
low of  them  has  yet  had  a  bite  of  me.  I  can  feel 
them  alight  on  my  skin,  but  the  moment  they 
smell  the  pennyroyal  they  rise  with  a  kick.  It 
makes  me  laugh  to  think  how  disappointed  they 
must  be." 

With  all  his  boasting,  however,  Jones'  face  and 
hands  the  next  morning  looked  as  if  he  were  suf- 
fering an  attack  of  measles.  The  perfume  of  his 
pennyroyal  was  a  good  defence  so  long  as  it  lasted, 
but  it  needed  renewal  every  half  hour. 

Wheeler's  device  was,  to  appearance,  as  ineffec- 
tive as  it  was  novel.  He  took  the  shrimp  net,  of 
which  the  meshes  were  at  least  half  an  inch  square, 
and  selecting  a  spot  shaded  from  the  light  of  the 
fires,  he  spread  it  over  a  ridge  pole  so  that  it 
should  cover  his  face  and  hands  without  touching 
them.  He  said  that  rausquitoes  would  never  pass 
through  a  net,  even  when  the  meshes  were  much 
larger  than  these,  unless  they  could  see  light  on 
the  other  side.  He  slept  without  complaint  through 
the  night,  though  neither  was  he  without  marks 
the  next  morning.* 

*  Herodotus  describes  this  mode  as  practised  by  fishermen 
in  Egypt  more  than  2000  years  ago. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  149 

Sergeant  Tomkins,  who  was  fortunate  enoti^Ii 
to  have  a  large  tough  newspaper,  shaped  it  ini(»  i 
helmet  for  head  and  neck,  having  cut  a  V-like 
orifice  for  breathing,  and  leaving  the  point  of  the 
V  to  cover  the  end  of  his  nose.  His  hands  were 
well  protected  under  his  blanket. 

Wildcat  stripped  his  deer-skin  hunting-shirt 
wholly  from  one  arm,  and  partly  from  the  other, 
doubling  the  loose  end  of  the  partly  filled  sleeve 
to  cover  the  enclosed  hand,  and  spreadiijg  the  body 
of  the  shirt  over  all  other  parts  exposed,  except 
his  head,  which  he  closely  enveloped  in  his  turban, 
leaving  only  a  small  orifice  for  breathing. 

Dr.  Gordon,  well  knowing  the  reputation  of  the 
coast  for  musquitoes,  had  provided  himself,  before 
leaving  home,  with  a  yard  or  two  of  musquito 
netting,  by  means  of  w^hich  he  was  perfectly  safe 
from  attack. 

Poor  Thompson  and  Magruder  resorted  first  to 
one  device  then  another,  and  were  satisfied  the 
next  morning,  (at  least  Thompson  said  that  he 
was,)  that  they  had  received  their  full  share  of  at- 
tention from  their  nimble  little  visitors.  But 
when  they  came  to  talk  the  matter  over,  Magru- 
der, looking  at  his  swollen  hands,  said, — 

**  You,  who  were  born  and  raised  in  a  musquito 
country  may  know  better  than  I  how  to  keep  from 
being  stung,  but — every  man  to  his  trade ! — I  have 
an  advantage  over  you  all,  as  cook,  in  curing  the 


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150  MAROONER'S  ISLAND 

bites  after  thej  have  been  made,"  and  with  this  he 
took  from  the  cook's  stores  a  spoonful  of  soda, 
which  he  dissolved  in  a  little  water  and  applied 
to  the  swollen  places,  remarking  that  wet  soda, 
or  even  strong  salt  and  water,  would  relieve  the 
sting  of  any  poisonous  creature,  whether  gnat, 
wasp,  or  scorpion. 

To  which  Dr.  Gordon  added :  ^^  That  is  true, 
for  animal  poisons  are  said  to  be  powerful  acids , 
and  the  \mt  corrective  of  these  are  alkalies,  such 
as  hartshorn,  soda,  potash,  or  even  lye  or  soap 
suds." 

And  Thompson  also  said':  ^^If  we  are  to  take 
Magruder's  rule,  ^  Every  man  to  his  trade,'  I  must 
not  slight  mine,  for  I  carry  with  me  a  cure  for 
every  sting  I  have  tried  yet.  It  is  the  oil  to  be 
had  from  the  stem  of  my  pipe.  It  is  awful  bad- 
smelling,  but  it  is  as  good  to  cure  as  it  is  bad  to 
smell."  * 

By  unanimous  vote,  the  island  was  named  Mus- 
QUiTo  Key. 

This  day  being  the  Christian  Sabbath,  Dr.  Gor- 
don called  the  crew  together  at  the  close  of  break- 
fast, and  said  to  them : — 

^^  It  has  been  my  custom,  as  a  Christian  man,  to 
honor  the  Sabbath  by  making  it,  if  possible,  a  day 

*  This  oil,  however  it  may  be  used  with  impunity  by 
tough  old  hunters,  cannot  be  applied  with  equal  safety  in  all 
cases.  It  is  said  to  have  produced  fatal  effects,  once,  when 
applied  to  a  raw  place  on  the  sltin  of  a  child. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  151 

of  rest  and  of  worship.  Such  was  my  intention 
to-day,  and  when,  last  evening,  we  selected  this 
island,  which  looked  so  beautiful'  at  a  distance,  I 
said  to  myself,  '  How  delightful  a  spot  it  will  be 
for  spending  the  Sabbath!'  But  you  perceive 
how  impossible  it  is  to  carry  out  this  intention. 
We  are  forced  to  seek  some  other  place.  I  pro- 
pose, therefore,  with  the  consent  of  Sergeant  Tom- 
kins,  to  resume  our  voyage,  and  continue  it  until 
we  find  a  place  suitable  for  stopping  ;  and  in 
case  we  do  not  in  time,  that  we  spend  a  season  on 
board  in  the  exercise  of  worship.'' 

The  smile  of  pleasure  which  overspread  the 
faces  of  the  men  showed  that  the  proposal  accorded 
with  their  preferences.  A  half  hour,  or  more,  be- 
fore embarking,  was  allowed  them  to  pay  such 
extra  attention  to  personal  appearance  as  was  pos- 
sible; then  they  took  their  places  aboard  and 
bade  a  joyful  adieu  to  the  deceitful  beauties  of 
Musquito  Key.  For  hours  they  sailed  along  the 
coast,  looking  in  vain  for  some  place  to  stop,  and 
greatly  delayed  in  their  onward  progress  by  a 
broad  sheet  of  water  stretching  inland,  studded 
with  low  hummocks,  covered  with  mangroves  and 
sea-myrtles,  which  it  was  necessary  for  them  to 
explore  before  passing. 

The  only  incident  of  interest  occurring  as  they 
sailed  this  morning,  was  the  capturing,  or  rather  the 
self-deliverance,  of  a  number  of  flying-fish.   Quite 


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152  MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

a  large  school  of  these  timid  little  creatures,  alarmed 
by  vonitoes  or  some  other  object  of  terror  in  the 
water,  arose  from  their  native  element,  and  flying 
frantically  through  the  air,  plunged  into  the  water 
about  one  hundred  yards  beyond.  Four  or  five  of 
these  struck  the  sails  of  the  barge  and  fell  between 
the  gunwales.  Their  immense  pectoral  fins,  ex- 
panded into  wings,  were  quite  a  curiosity  to  those 
who  were  not  already  familiar  with  their  pecu- 
liarities. 

About  eleven  o'clock  Sergeant  Tomkins  an- 
nounced to  the  men  that  having  not  yet  found  a 
place  on  land  suitable  for  the  purpose,  they  would 
have  religious  service  aboard.  Each  man  retained 
his  accustomed  seat,  and  was  ready  to  fulfil  any 
duty  that  might  be  necessary,  while  the  boat  was 
under  easy  sail,  and  while  every  needless  labor 
was  avoided;  but  the  moment  the  beginning  of 
service  was  announced,  the  head  of  each  was  un- 
covered in  token  of  reverence  for  that  Presence 
which  is  always  recognized  in  the  act  of  worship. 

Before  they  commenced,  however,  and  while 
Dr.  Gordon  was  making  ready,  one  of  the  men, 
possessed  of  a  fine  voice,  began  a  familiar  hymn, 
set  to  solemn,  wild  music,  in  which  the  others 
united,  particularly  in  the  chorus.  This  volun- 
tary, well  suited  in  sentiment  and  air  to  their  cir- 
cumstances, floated  softly  over  the  waters,  and  was 
an  excellent  preparative  for  what  came  after.    The 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  153 

voices  of  the  men  were  rich  and  strong,  but,  having 
no  surrounding  objects  to  cause  reverberation,  they 
sounded  weak  and  child-like  on  that  wild  surface 
of  water ;  thus  illustrating  practically  their  lonely 
condition,  and  causing  them  to  realize  more  than 
otherwise  was  possible  the  fact  of  their  depend- 
ence, as  recognized  in'  the  words  soon  after  to  be 
repeated,  "  Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven/* 

The  exercises  were  few  and  simple.  Without 
any  book  but  the  Bible,  Dr.  Gordon  repeated  from 
memory  two  suitable  hymns,  (leaving  the  tunes  to 
the  taste  of  the  men,)  read  several  portions  of 
Scripture  in  a  style  of  unaffected  reverence,  made 
a  few  simple  remarks,  and  offered  prayer  to  the 
best  of  his  ability,  in  language  suited  to  their  cir- 
cumstances, then  announced  the  services  concluded. 
Brief  and  artless  as  they  were,  they  seemed  to 
touch  deep  chords  in  the  hearts  of  the  men,  and 
to  bring  out  some  of  their  best  feelings.  Magruder, 
who  was  usually  a  man  of  few  words,  but  who 
had  shown  throughout  the  services  a  reverential 
spirit,  took  occasion,  as  soon  as  the  men  had  begun 
to  talk  freely,  to  say,  in  a  tone  of  great  sincerity, 
to  Dr.  Gordon, — 

"  Captain,  I  do  like  that  free-and-easy  way  of 
yours  in  conducting  our  worship  to-day.  It  made 
me  feel  at  home." 

"I  am  not  sure  that  I  understand  you,''  re-, 
turned  Dr.  Gordon. 


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154  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"  What  I  mean  is  this/'  Magruder  said ;  "  that 
oftentimes  when  we  attend  Divine  service,  the 
preacher  or  chaplain  makes  us  feel  by  his  manner 
that  the  services  are  Ais,  not  ours ;  but  you  made 
us  feel  to-day  that  the  service  was  ours,  too. 
Rough  as  I  am,  and  little  reason  as  I  give  any 
one  to  suspect  it,  I  do  love  to  worship  sometimes/' 

"  It  is  pleasant  to  hear  you  say  this,"  Dr.  Gor- 
don rejoined,  "and  no  doubt  others  feel  so  at 
times,  whose  ordinary  conduct  gives  no  sign 
of  it." 

"  I  do,  for  one,"  said  Wheeler. 

"  And  I,  for  another,"  said  Jones. 
And  all  the  rest  (except  Simpson,  whose  dark, 
impassive  countenance  seldom  gave  token  of  sym- 
pathy) looked  as  if  they  were  ready  to  say  the 
same. 

"  Worship,"  continued  Dr.  Gordon,  "  is  one  of 
the  noblest  acts  in  which  any  creature  can  engage, 
and,  in  some  form  or  other,  it  is  suited  to  the 
capacity  of  every  right-minded  being — simple 
enough  for  a  child,  sublime  enough  for  an  angel." 

"  You  do  not  believe,  then,"  Sergeant  Tomkins 
interrogatively  remarked,  "that  the  church  and 
the  pulpit  are  necessary  to  it?" 

"As  much  so  as  tables  and  chairs  are  to  our 
daily  food,"  replied  Dr.  Gordon.  "They  are  a 
part  of  the  decencies,  and  will  be  provided  by  all 
persons,  according  to  their  means,  who  cultivate  a 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  155 

proper  respect ;  but  they  may  be  dispensed  with 
in  time  of  need,  (as  was  the  case  just  now,)  and, 
therefore,  they  are  no  part  of  the  essentials." 

"What  is  worship?"  Tomkins  asked,  and  Dr. 
Gordon  was  about  to  reply,  "  The  homage  of  the 
heart,"  when,  observing  the  eye  of  the  young 
Indian  iSxed  on  him  in  eager  gaze,  he  replied, — 

"  It  is  the  talking  of  the  heart  with  the  Gi'cat 
Spirit,  whom  we  are  taught  to  call  ^  Our  Father 
in  Heaven/  " 

Then  pausing  a  moment,  and  observing  that 
all  were  waiting,  as  if  for  more,  he  went  on  to 
say,— 

"  Any  person  who  can  come  before  God,  in  any 
place,  and  in  any  language,  or  even  without  a 
word  spoken  by  the  lip,  and  say,  with  a  loving 
and  trustful  heart,  ^Our  Father  who  art  in 
Heaven,'  is,  in  some  sense,  a  worshij^per.  He 
may  not  have  attained  a  very  high  grade  as  such, 
but  he  has  attained  a  grade  —  he  has  learned  the 
first  letter  in  the  alphabet  of  Divine  knowledge — 
he  has  begun  to  use  the  language  of  heaven." 

"And  beautiful  language  it  is!"  ejaculated 
Thompson,  with  strong  emotion.  "  When  I  kneel 
down,  (for  I  do  kneel  sometimes,)  and  say,  ^Oh 
Lord ! '  or  ^  Oh  God  Almighty  ! '  it  scares  me.  I 
want  to  get  further  off,  for  I  doubt  whether  I 
know  Him;  but  when  I  say,  ^Our  Father  in 
Heaven  ! '  I  feel  somehow  as  I  used  to  feel  when 


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156  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

I  was  a  boy,  and  was  coining  to  one  that  I  knew, 
and  that  cared  for  me." 

"  You  express  yourself  very  naturally/'  said 
the  Doctor,  while  his  eye  kindled  and  his  heart 
warmed  towards  the  free-spoken  man.  "I  am 
no  preacher,  and  therefore  cannot  speak  with 
authority,  but  it  is  my  opinion  that  of  all  the 
feelings  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the 
Garden  of  Eden,  the  least  impaired  by  the  Fall 
are  those  of  the  parent  to  the  child.  They  are 
those  of  the  purest  and  most  perfect  love  known 
on  earth — a  love  that  does  not  measure  its  gifts 
with  a  stingy  hand,  but  which  takes  pleasure  in 
giving  pleasure,  and  which  knows  no  limit  except 
its  own  power  and  the  other's  good.  Now,  this 
is  the  feeling  which  Jesus  Christ  teaches  us  to 
recognise  in  God  whenever  we  can  come  to  Him 
and  say,  ^  Our  Father  in  Heaven ! '  I  confess,'' 
he  continued,  brightening  with  his  theme,  and 
raising  his  voice  with  a  gesture  of  earnestniess, 
"  that  sometimes,  when  I  catch  a  glimpse  of  what 
is  implied  in  those  first  words  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  1  am  almost  ready  to  cry  out,  Halleluia." 

For  more  than  half  an  hour  afterward,  it  was 
observable  that  there  was  little  conversation  among 
the  men,  and  what  there  was  partook  of  a  serious 
character.  It  was  easy  for  a  reader  of  the  human 
face  to  discern  in  theirs  the  renewal  of  old  and 
long-neglected  lessons,  learned  perhaps  at  the  pa- 
ternal home,  and  perhaps  also  at  the  mother's  knee. 


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CHAPTER  XIV. 

SIGNS  OF  A  TEXAN  NORTHER  — PALMETTO  TENT— 
SINGULAR  FACTS  ATTENDING  STORMS— SEVERE 
GALE— PREPARING  FOR  A  GLOOMY  MARCH— EX- 
PLORING UNDER  DIFFICULTIES—  NARROW  ES- 
CAPE-" HELP!  MURDER!" 


HE  afternoon  was  spent  in  sailing  lei- 
surely among  the  multitude  of  small 
islands  which  dotted  the  coast,  of  which 
there  was  not  one,  however,  which  was 
eligible  as  a  place  of  sojourn  for  the  night,  or  even 
for  a  few  hours'  rest ;  and  when  the  sun  began  to 
decline,  there  were  some  apprehensions  lest  they 
should  be  compelled  to  seek  their  next  stopping- 
place  upon  the  main,  which  they  preferred  to  avoid 
on  account  of  possible  hostilities  from  the  Indians. 
More  delightful  w^eather  for  their  excursion 
could  scarcely  have  been  desired  than  tliey  had 
and  were  still  having;  yet  about  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  Wheeler,  who  had  been  observed  to 
look  repeatedly  at  the  rigging,  and  also  at  the  sky 
in  their  rear,  was  heard  to  say  anxiously, — 
*'If  we  were  in  Texas,  or  even  in  Northern 

107 


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158  3IAR00NER'S  ISLAND. 

Louisiana,  I  should  say  that  we  are  about  to  have 
what  the  people  out  there  call  a  norther." 

"What  makes  you  think  so?"  inquired  Dr. 
Gordon. 

"  Yon  cobwebs,"  he  replied,  pointing  to  some- 
thing like  gossamer  that  could  occasionally  be 
seen  floating  in  the  air  and  caught  upon  the  rig- 
ging. "  I  never  expected  to  see  it  so  far  east  as 
this,  and  across  the  Gulf  too,  and  therefore  I  do 
not  know  exactly  how  to  calculate  upon  it,  but  in 
Texas  I  should  have  no  doubt.^' 

"  No  doubt  of  what  ? "  asked  Tomkins  rather 
abruptly. 

"  That  we  ought  to  make  for  shore  at  an  early 
hour,  and  prepare  for  rough  times  to-night," 
Wheeler  quietly  answered. 

"  I  never  neglect  warnings  of  that  kind,"  said 
Dr.  Gordon,  "  and  you  have  my  consent  to  land 
at  the  first  place  that  promises  safety.  But  do  in- 
form me,  as  you  seem  to  know,  what  are  the  signs 
and  circumstances  of  a  Texan  norther  ?  " 

"  One  of  their  worst  signs,"  Wheeler  returned, 
"is  that  they  have  no  signs  at  all,  but  come  upon 
you  with  all  their  force  before  you  know  it.  At 
this  season  of  the  year,  and  after  a  spell  of  just 
such  weather  as  we  have  been  having,  and  when 
men  have  been  wearing  their  summer  clothes,  all 
of  a  sudden  comes  a  cold,  dry  wind,  (not  always 
dry,)  from  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  in  less  than 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  159 

three  hours,  often  in  less  than  half  an  hour,  it  is 
80  cold  that  you  can  hardly  get  clothes  or  fire 
warm  enough  to  keep  you  from  freezing.  It  may 
be  expected  any  time  from  October  to  April,  and 
it  lasts  usually  from  one  to  four  days,  though  I 
knew  one  once  in  the  Gulf  that  lasted  nine  days/' 

"  No  one,  to  look  at  the  bright  sky  overhead, 
would  prophesy  rain  or  change  of  weather  soon,'^ 
said  Magruder,  "  but  I  have  an  old  bone  in  my 
back  that  generally  gives  warning  of  bad  weather, 
and  since  we  have  been  talking  I  heard  it  very 
plainly  say,  '  Look  out ! '  ^' 

"  Then  we  will  look  out,"  added  Dr.  Gordon, 
'*  for  bright  as  the  skies  are,  it  would  be  folly  in 
us  to  neglect  such  signs,  especially  at  this  time  of 
the  year,  and  of  spring-tide  on  the  coast.'' 

It  was  fully  an  hour  by  sun  when  Wheeler 
turned  the  bow  of  the  barge  into  a  snug  little  bay 
made  by  a  tongue  of  land,  (whether  island  or  not 
they  could  not  determine,)  which  promised  a  safe 
protection  in  its  smooth  water  against  any  violence 
from  seaward.  The  bluff,  too,  was  unusually  high 
for  that  part  of  the  coast,  and  there  was  a  con- 
venient level  just  below  its  highest  part,  where 
they  could  encamp  for  the  night,  with  the  advan- 
tage of  having  their  sleeping-place  protected  in  a 
measure  from  wind,  and  the  light  of  their  fire 
concealed  from  observers  on  the  main.  Here  the 
barge  was  at  first  moored,  and  the  flukes  of  the 


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IGO  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

anchor  were  sunk  amid  th^  roots  of  a  stump  high 
upon  the  beach.  The  tarpaulin  of  the  boat  was 
rigged  up  as  a  tent  for  Dr.  Gordon,  and  while 
some  of  the  men  looked  rather  rueful  at  the  pros- 
pect of  spending  a  night  exposed  to  the  cold  pre- 
dicted by  Wheeler,  and  the  rain  predicted  by 
Magruder's  "  old  bone,"  Wildcat  said  cheerily  to 
them, — 

"Make  house — make  /rym* house.  Palmetto 
plenty." 

The  suggestion  was  valuable,  for  palmetto 
booths  are  easily  made,  and  when  properly  con- 
structed are  as  impervious  to  rain  as  the  roof  of  a 
house.  By  Sergeant  Tomkins'  order,  the  men 
immediately  dispersed  to  obtain  the  materials 
necessary  for  this  purpose,  consisting  of  poles, 
silk-grass,  and  the  fan-like  leaves  of  the  palmetto, 
and  long  before  dark  they  had  the  comfort  of 
seeing  a  substantial  shelter  for  their  persons  *  in 
case  of  need,  and  of  having  all  needful  things  from 
the  barge  stowed  there  also. 

*  Shelters  of  this  kind  are  so  cheaply  constructed  whcre- 
ever  the  palmetto  abounds,  and  are  withal  so  useful,  that  a 
brief  description  of  the  mode  of  making  them  may  not  be 
amiss.  Horizontal  poles,  about  a  foot  apart,  are  fastened  to 
the  rafters.  Three  or  four  (sometimes  half  a  dozen)  fans 
of  the  dwarf  palmetto  are  laid  flat  together,  and  lied  to  these 
horizontal  poles,  stem-end  up,  by  means  of  strips  torn  from 
the  side  of  the  fans.  The  stems  are  tied  under  the  pole  next 
above,  while  the  leayes  lie  smoothly  upon  the  supporting  pole 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  161 

It  is  oftentimes  the  ease  that,  after  having  worked 
hard  to  protect  ourselves  against  anticipated  evil, 
we  find  that  the  evil  does  not  come,  and  we  feel  as 
if  there  has  been  labor  lost.  So  it  seemed  to  the 
crew  in  the  present  instance.  Wheeler  and  Ma- 
gruder  had  croaked  so  loudly  about  wind  and  rain 
as  to  have  induced  them  to  convert  the  close  of  the 
"day  of  rest''  into  a  time  of  labor;  yet  when  the 
sun  had  set,  and  the  twilight  had  begun,  there  was 
no  more  evidence  of  a  coming  storm  than  there 
had  been  during  the  day.  The  men  were  begin- 
ning to  feel  almost  disappointed,  when,  soon  after 
supper,  Wheeler,  pointing  to  the  film  of  mist  in 
the  sky  that  rushed  wildly  overhead  from  west  to 
east,  as  if,  scared  at  something  in  the  Gulf,  it  were 
hurrying  to  the  land  for  protection,  said, — 

"  There  comes  our  norther." 

To  which  Tomkins  replied :  "  I  do  not  know 
why  you  should  call  it  norther y  for,  from  the  scud- 
ding of  that  mist,  a  more  suitable  name,  it  seems 
to  me,  would  be  wester.  But  whatever  the  name 
you  give,  there  is  no  doubt  of  a  gale  close  at  hand, 
and  our  business  now  is  to  be  ready  for  it.  Come, 
let  us  look  after  our  boat." 

"  She  is  already  as  safe  as  I  know  how  to  make 

below.     The  work  is  begun,  shingle-fashion,  at  the  bottom 

of  the  roof,  and  each  tier  of  leaves  above  overlaps  a  part  of 

the  tier  below.     A  well-made  roof  of  palmetto  thatch  will 

last  many  years.     They  are  frequently  to  be  seen  upon  our 

seaboard. 

L 


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162  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

her,"  Wheeler  said,  "  lying  there  safe  from  shore, 
with  head  to  sea,  anchored  at  both  bow  and  stern, 
with  a  good  length  of  cable-tow,  and  having  a 
hawser  to  command  her  motions,  made  fast  ashore. 
But  as  you  seem  anxious,  I  will  go  and  show  you." 

They  descended  to  the  bluff  together,  and  Tom- 
kins  called  his  attention  to  a  peculiar  and  ever- 
changing  curve  in  the  shore-line  of  the  water,  in- 
dicative of  the  undulation  of  a  very  broad,  flat 
wave;  to  which  Wheeler  responded :  — 

"  That  is  a  ground-swell  from  sea." 

'*  I  know  it,"  said  the  Sergeant,  "  but  it  was  not 
there  when  we  landed.  It  is  one  of  the  forerun- 
ners of  the  gale,  and  it  makes  me  feel  queer  to 
think  that  a  wave  should  out-run  the  wind  that 
makes  it." 

"  It  is  no  more  strange  than  the  sound  you  can 
hear  at  this  minute,"  replied  Wheeler.  "  Hark  to 
the  moan  that  comes  in  from  sea.  That  is  from 
the  storm,  too,  and  I  have  heard  it  sometimes 
when  the  storm  was  too  far  off  for  any  sound  to 
travel  from  it."  * 

*  There  are  some  facts  connected  with  storms  which,  like 
other  strange  facts,  have  a  mysterious  aspect,  simply  because 
we  do  not  know  how  to  account  for  them.  One  of  these  is, 
that  our  seyerest  storms  oftentimes  begin  to  blow  in  a  direction 
opposite  to  that  in  which  the  storm  is  travelling.  For  instance,  a 
storm  which  begins  to  be  felt  first  in  the  West  Indies,  and  day 
after  day  extends  along  the  Atlantic  coast  till  it  reaches  New- 
foundland, oftentimes  begins  with  a  gale  from  the  northeast. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  163 

With  all  Tomkins'  anxiety,  there  was  nothing 
more  to  be  done  to  the  boat,  and  though  he  left  it 
reluctantly,  as  if  oppressed  with  some  presentiment 
of  evil,  he  said,  "All  right!"  and,  with  his  com- 
panion, ascended  the  bluff  to  look  after  things  at 
the  camp. 

The  eastern  sky  was  now  brightening  with  the 
light  of  the  rising  moon,  while  the  western,  over- 
hanging the  sea,  looked  black  and  portentous.   Soon 

Another  singular  fact  about  them  is,  that,  although  the  wind 
of  a  storm  moves  at  the  rate  of  eighty  or  one  hundred  miles 
the  hour,  as  tested  by  an  anemometer,  the  ttorm  itself  may 
travel  at  the  rate  of  only  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  the  hour. 
For  instance,  the  storm  that  begins  in  the  West  Indies  on 
Monday,  and  reaches  the  coast  of  Georgia  on  Tuesda^*^  and 
of  Connecticut  on  Wednesday,  and  spends  itself  at  New- 
foundland on  Thursday  or  Friday,  evidently  travels  at  a  rate 
necessary  to  make  that  distance  in  that  time,  which  is  from 
fifteen  to  twenty-five  miles  an  hour.  These  facts  have  been 
accounted  for  by  the  theory  that  all  storms,  so  characterized, 
are  immense  whirUj  of  several  hundred  miles  diameter,  in 
which  the  wind  moves  with  great  rapidity  around  its  cen- 
tre, while  the  centre  itself  moves  with  far  less  rapidity  in 
its  northeasterly  direction.  The  cause  of  Tomkins'  wonder 
(viz:  that  a  wave  should  out-run  the  wind  that  raises  it)  is 
to  be  accounted  for  by  knowing  that  ocean-billows  are  esti- 
mated to  move  sometimes  at  the  rate  of  forty  miles  the  hour, 
while  the  body  of  the  storm  that  causes  it  moves  only  at  the 
rate  of  twenty  or  less.  And  Wheeler's  mysterious  moan  from 
the  tea  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  sound  travels  much  far- 
ther and  more  rapidly  through  water  than  through  air,  and 
thus  a  poming  storm  often  sends  its  voice  of  warning  far 
ahead  of  its  winds  and  waves. 


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1G4  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

a  sigh  was  heard,  followed  by  a  little  puff  of  wind, 
then  another  sigh,  and  another  puff.  The  moan 
from  sea  deepened  every  moment,  as  also  did  the 
darkness.  Every  "puff  of  wind  became  more  de- 
cided, and  it  was  not  long  before  a  deep  darkness 
settled  upon  everything  visible,  and  there  was  such 
a  roar  from  sea  and  sky  as  almost  drowned  the 
feeble  voices  of  those  who  tried  to  speak.  It  was 
fortunate  that  the  tarpaulin  tent  and  the  palmetto 
booth  had  been  located  under  the  partial  protection 
of  the  bluff,  and  also  of  a  mixed  mass  of  herbage 
and  sand  near  its  margin;  otherwise  they  would 
have  been  prostrated  at  the  very  beginning  of  the 
gale.  Assisted,  however,  by  some  sails  from  the 
barge,  which  were  firmly  staked,  the  inmates  were 
screened  against  wind  and  rain,  and  it  w^  not 
long  before  they  needed  protection  against  both. 
With  the  driving  of  the  rain,  and  of  the  spray 
from  sea,  came  also  the  rising  of  the  tide,  which 
in  half  an  hour's  time  had  covered  the  whole  slope 
of  the  beach,  and  had  lifted  the  waves  so  that 
they  were  beating  heavily  against  the  bluff  above 
high-water  mark.  The  unexpectedly  serious  as- 
pect beginning  to  be  assumed  by  the  storm,  caused 
Dr.  Gordon  to  recall  with  painful  distinctness  the 
scenes  of  wild  disaster  which  he  had  witnessed  at 
his  home  upon  the  Georgia  coast,  just  seven  years 
before,*  when  so  many  lives,  of  both  whites  and 
*  The  hurricane  of  September,  1824,  in  which  some  of  tho 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  165 

blacks,  were  lost  by  the  overflow  of  the  sea.  He, 
therefore,  said  to  Sergeant  Tomkins, — 

"  I  am  sorry  we  did  not  select  a  higher  spot  for 
our  encampment.  If  we  are  to  judge  of  the  pres- 
ent storm  by  one  I  witnessed  a  few  years  since,  we 
may  be  compelled  to  change  our  quarters  before 
morning.  I  propose,  therefore,  to  take  Jones,  if 
you  will  let  me  have  him,  and  my  young  frienc^ 
Wildcat,  and  ascertain,  by  going  a  little  way  into 
the  interior,  whether  there  is  not  higher  ground  to 
which  we  may  go  in  case  of  need." 

"  This  will  be  dangerous  work.  Doctor,"  replied 
Tomkins.  "  You  will  lose  yourself  in  the  dark- 
ness, I  fear." 

"There  will  be  the  light  of  your  fire;  I  cannot 
mistake  that,"  Dr.  Gordon  said. 

"  That  might  guide  your  return,  but  not  your 
going  out,"  argued  Tomkins,  "  for,  whichever  way 
you  incline,  (and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  keep 
any  given  course  in  the  dark,)  the  fire  behind  you 
will  look  just  the  same ;  and  while  you  think  you 
are  going  due  south,  as  you  intend,  you  may  sidle 
to  the  right,  and  be  falling  over  the  bluff  into  the 
sea  before  you  expect  it." 

"  You  are  right,"  Dr.  Gordon  replied ;  "  I  pro- 
islands  were  totally  submerged,  and  all  the  inhabitants  de- 
stroyed, and  in  which  many  houses  upon  the  main  were 
overwhelmed,  not  only  by  the  wind,  but  by  the  fearful  tide 
that  rushed  in  from  sea. 


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166  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

pose,  therefore,  that  while  we  are  gone,  you  keep 
two  fires,  about  four  rods  apart.  We  can  use  them 
as  sailors  use  beacons  on  the  coast." 

"  That  is  well  thought  of,"  Tomkins  returned 
with  a  brightening  look.  "The  two*  fires  will 
give  you  all  needful  guidance  both  going  and  re- 
turning." 

The  two  fires  being  made,  and  the  course  care- 
fully laid  down  which  they  were  to  pursue.  Dr. 
Gordon  called  his  two  companions,  and  set  out 
upon  his  gloomy  reconnoissance.  For  mutual  sup- 
port and  guidance,  as  well  as  to  avoid  separation, 
they  took  each  other  by  the  hand.  Dr.  Gordon  be- 
ing in  the  midst,  and  Wildcat  upon  his  right;  and 
it  was  well  that  this  expedient  was  adopted  before 
they  left  the  fire,  fijr  each  soon  became  perfectly 
invisible  to  the  others,  and  the  loudest  halloo  could 
not  be  heard  the  distance  of  ten  paces.  Another 
important  aid  was  also  provided  on  the  suggestion 
of  Wheeler,  (who  said  he  knew  what  it  was  to 
grope  in  the  dark,)  without  wiich  the  explorers 
w^ould  probably  have  lost  their  lives: — it  was  a 
rod,  or  groping-stick,  six  or  eight  feet  long,  in  the 
hand  of  each,  with  which  to  feel  the  way. 

Accoutred  and  supported  thus,  they  began  their 

*  For  that  purpose,  three  fires,  arranged  triangularly, 
with  a  long  apex  pointing  the  way,  would  have  been  better 
than  two  ;  but  perhaps  Dr.  Gordon  knew  that  there  was  not 
wood  enough  for  them  all. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  167 

march,  stumbling  over  a  drifted  hillock  here,  and 
running  foul  of  a  stunted  cedar  there,  until  they 
had  gone  some  two  hundred  yards,  and  had  satis- 
fied themselves  that  several  of  the  spots  over  which 
they  had  passed  were  a  yard  or  two  higher  than 
the  place  of  their  encampment.  They  were  con- 
scious, however,  that,  notwithstanding  their  at- 
tempts to  guide  themselves  by  the  two  fires,  their 
course  had  been  very  uncertain,  for  the  reason 
that  the  driving  rain  and  mist  had  so  obscured  the 
distinctness  of  the  fires  that  at  a  short  distance 
nothing  was  visible  of  them  except  their  com- 
mingled light.  In  doubt,  therefore,  whether  they 
were  in  the  midst  of  the  tongue  of  land,  or  upon 
one  of  its  edges,  they  faithfully  plied  the  groping- 
sticks  before  them  at  every  step ;  and  it  was  well 
indeed  they  did,  for  as  they  were  about  to  turn,  at 
the  end  of  their  course.  Wildcat  suddenly  uttered 
his  Indian  grunt,  "  Ugh ! "  then  griped  fast  hold 
of  Dr.  Gordon's  hand,  crying  out,  "  Hold  fast  I  '^ 
and  immediately  began  to  sink.  The  company  had 
groped  their  way  to  the  crumbling  edge  of  the 
bluff,  below  which  the  dark  waves  from  sea  were 
beating  in  their  fury,  and  so  undermining  it  that, 
at  the  moment  Wildcat's  stick  warned  him  of  his 
position,  the  brink  gave  way  beneath  his  feet.  It 
was  as  much  as  Dr.  Gordon  and  Jones  could  do  by 
their  united  strength  to  brace  themselves  against 
this  sudden  pull,  while  Dr.<jordon  held  on  to  the 


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168  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

imperilled  boy  and  called  to  Jones  to  draw  them 
both  back. 

And  now  a  new  danger  presented  itself.  The 
light  from  the  encampment,  which  had  been  grow- 
ing dimmer  and  dimmer,  disappeared  entirely,  ere 
they  had  walked  two  minutes  on  their  homeward 
way — the  fires  having  been  extinguished  by  the 
rain.  They  were  deeply  impressed  with  the  diffi- 
culty and  peril  of  their  situation ;  nor  did  they 
hesitate  to  warn  each  other  of  the  necessity  of 
keeping  an  arrow-like  directness  in  their  route,  if 
they  hoped  ever  to  reach  the  camp.  On  they  went, 
so  slowly  stepping,  and  so  carefully  feeling  their 
way  before  they  stepped,  that  it  seemed  as  if  they 
had  gone  double  the  distance;  and  Dr.  Gordon 
and  Jones,  having  no  guide  on  which  to  rely  ex- 
cept their  consciousness  of  moving  at  a  certain 
angle  to  the  wind,  would  long  before  have  come  to 
a  full  stop,  confident  that  they  had  veered  from 
their  course,  and  were  in  danger  again,  had  it  not 
been  for  Wildcat's  cheery  voice :  **  We  right !  we 
right !  keep  on ! "  when,  at  last,  Jones  gave  Dr. 
Gordon's  hand  a  grip,  such  as  Wildcat  had  given 
it  before,  and  with  a  cry  of  "  Hold  fast ! "  lurched 
forward,  dragging  the  others  along  with  him.  Te- 
naciously did  poor  Jones  cling  to  Dr.  Gordon,  and 
manfully  did  the  Doctor  and  Wildcat  struggle  to 
save  him  and  themselves  from  being  precipitated 
into  the  boiling  waters  below.     It  was  impossible, 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  169 

however,  to  resist  the  downward  impulse.  They 
went  together,  nor  did  they  stop  until  Jones  found 
himself  lodged  against  an  obstruction  that  first 
gave  a  hasty  movement,  then  a  cry  of — 

"Murder!    Help!" 

They  had  fortunately  kept  so  straight  a  course, 
under  Wildcat's  Indian  guidance,  as  to  have  come 
to  the  camp  itself,  and  falling  down  the  little  de- 
clivity above  it  to  have  lodged  against  Simpson,  who 
had  stepped  out  for  a  moment  to  see  what  pro- 
gress the  storm  had  made.  Jones'  cry  of  horror, 
as  he  thought  himself  plunging  into  the  sea,  was 
arrested,  and  in  place ^of  it  came  such  a  ringing 
laugh  of  merriment  at  discovering  that  Simpson 
had  mistaken  him  for  a  hostile  Indian  trying  to 
murder  him,  that  he  was  joined  in  it  by  Dr.  Gor- 
don and  Wildcat,  and  soon  after  by  all  otliers  in 
the  camp. 


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CHAPTER  XV. 

INCREASE  OF  THE  STORM—  STRUGGLES  OF  MIND-^ 
DANGEROUS  TIDE— ALARM  FOR  THE  BOAT— VAIN 
SEARCH  ON  STORMY  WATER— WHAT  WAS  SEEN 
NEXT  MORNING  — DESPONDENCY— COUNCIL  OF 
WAR  — DISCUSSIONS  AND  RESOLVES. 


"HE  merriment  excited  by  Simpson's 
alarm  was  as  short-lived  as  it  was  bois- 
terous. Serious  as  affairs  had  been  for 
the  past  few  hours,  they  were  every  mo- 
ment becoming  more  so.  The  tide,  always  high 
a  day  after  the  full  moon,  and  now  higher  than 
usual  in  consequence  of  the  gale  from  the  west, 
^yas  rising  with  fearful  rapidity.  Dark  and  dirty 
billows  were  rolling  in  from  sea,  angry  at  being 
made  to  overleap  the  sandy  barrier  which  they 
met  a  mile  or  two  from  shore.  With  all  the  care 
which  Wheeler  had  taken  to  moor  the  barge  se- 
curely, she  was  at  times  lifted  by  the  waves  with 
a  force  sufficient  to  drag  her  anchor,  and  then 
brought  so  near  the  bluff  as  to  be  in  imminent 
danger  of  being  staved ;  yet  what  more  to  do  in 
insuring  her  safety  no  one  could  tell. 

170 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  171 

The  storm  continued  until  past  midnight.  The 
tide,  however,  did  not  continue  even-footed  with 
the  gale.  It  commenced  to  subside  before  the 
violence  of  the  wind  abated.  Two  feet  more  of 
rise  would  have  brought  the  waves  sidling  upon 
the  level  of  the  encampment,  and  have  compelled 
them  to  seek  higher  ground.  But  those  two  feet 
they  were  spared;  and  as  soon  as  the  promise  of 
this  fact  was  sufficiently  certified,  all  who  could, 
gave  themselves  up  to  sleep.  Dr.  Gordon  sought 
it,  like  the  rest,  but  his  visions  were  so  troubled 
that  wakefulness  proved  more  refreshing  than 
sleep. 

Between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
after  the  extreme  violence  of  the  storm  had  abated, 
but  while  the  surf  was  still  rolling  heavily  from 
sea,  the  sentinel  on  duty  announced  hastily  to 
Wheeler  that  the  bluff  above  the  place  of  anchor- 
age had  given  way,  carrying  with  it  a  large  log,  to 
the  great  danger,  as  he  supposed,  of  the  boat. 
Wheeler  instantly  aroused  Sergeant  Tomkins,  and 
the  two  hurried  to  the  place,  where,  by  the  light 
of  the  scarcely  living  camp-fire,  they  had  evidence 
enough  of  the  slide,  but  where  all  was  pitchy  dark 
in  the  chasm  beyond.  Vainly  did  they  try  by 
torches  of  resinous  pine  to  illumine  that  darkness ; 
the  flame  did  not  live  a  minute.  And  as  vain  was 
thejr  attempt  by  means  of  a  kind  of  lantern  which 
one   of  the   men  extemporized  out  of  a  three- 


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172  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

pronged  branch,  inclosed  by  a  white  handkerchief 
—  the  light  in  both  cases  was  extinguished.  Ex- 
cited the  more  by  these  failures,  they  gathered  upon 
the  edge  of  the  bluflF  all  the  wood  at  their  com- 
mand, and  placed  in  the  midst  a  few  burning 
brands  protected  from  the  rain,  while  exposed  to 
the  wind ;  its  lurid  light  soon  flickered  over  the 
edge  of  the  bluff  and  glanced  upon  the  rolling 
waters  below ;  but  no  sign  of  the  barge  ^could  be 
discovered.  In  the  meantime,  Wheeler  had  cau- 
tiously groped  his  way  to  the  place  where  his  haw- 
ser had  been  made  fast,  and  returned  to  Tomkins 
with  the  disheartening  intelligence  that  the  haw- 
ser had  been  snapped,  and  that  the  boat  had  been 
evidently  torn  from  her  moorings. 

With  this  unpleasant  discovery  they  were  com- 
pelled to  content  themselves,  for,  far  as  they  could 
peer  into  the  stormy  gloom,  by  the  light  of  their 
fire,  and  by  the  help  of  their  night-glass,  nothing 
could  be  seen  but  foamy,  tumbling  water.  The 
men,  who,  though  nearly  worn  out  by  labor  and 
unrest,  had  been  aroused  from  their  fitful  slumbers 
by  the  unusual  light  upon  the  bluff,  and  by  the 
excited  movements  of  Tomkins  and  Wheeler,  came, 
one  after  another,  to  the  place  of  observation, 
looked,  each  for  himself,  upon  the  signs  of  the  re- 
cent slide,  then  upon  the  dark  water,  imperfectly 
illumined,  where  no  boat  was  to  be  seen,  and 
finally  returned  to  the  palmetto  tent  to  sit  upon 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  173 

some  wet  box  or  bag  and  talk  over  their  now  dis- 
mal prospects.  In  this  way  they  spent  the  rest 
of  that  gloomy  night,  without  much  sleep,  or  much 
comfort  either  of  body  or  of  mind. 

By  three  o'clock  the  gale  had  ceased,  and  by 
half-past  four  the  almost  setting  moon  peeped 
through  a  large,  clear  rent  in  the  western  clouds. 
Encouraged  by  the  momentary  flood  of  light 
poured  upon  the  water  by  the  slanting  rays,  the 
men  hastened  to  the  place  of  observation,  and 
strained  their  eyes  to  discover  traces  of  the  missing 
boat,  but,  with  the  exception  of  seeing  something 
that  looked  like  a  buoy  lying  upon  its  side,  and 
tossing  on  the  swell,  they  looked  in  vain.  At  last 
the  dawn  struggled  through  the  still  clouded  east, 
and  revealed  to.  them  that  which  sent  a  pang 
to  every  heart — their  beautiful  barge  an  utter 
ruin.  By  what  means  they  could  not  conceive,  it 
had  been  severed  wholly  in  two.  Part  of  it  was 
hanging,  buoy-like,  to  the  dragged  anchor,  and 
part  of  it  was  swinging  in  the  tide,  afar  off,  de- 
tained by  the  killick  *  which  had  been  thrown  out 
astern. 

Fortunately  for  the  company,  the  Texan  ex- 
perience of  Wheeler  and  the  aching  bones  of  Ma- 
gruder  had  prevailed  upon  them  to  take  out  of 
her,  and  to  bring  safely  ashore,  all  that  was  most 
needful,  and  even  her  oars  and  some  of  her  sails. 

*  A  small  anchor. 


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174  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

But  what  were  sails  and  oars  without  their  boat  ? 
And  what  were  they  now  to  do?  It  was  mani- 
fest that  the  ct^uiae  was  over,  and  a  failure.  Their 
thoughts  instantly  turned  to  Tampa;  must  not 
their  faces  turn  there  too  ?  Yet  how  were  they  to 
get  back?  Not  by  water,  for  they  had  not  the 
means ;  not  by  land,  for  a  swarm  of  hostile  savages 
lay  between.  Were  they  destined  to  lie  here 
indefinitely,  upon  thLs  barren  coast,  hemmed  in  by 
impassable  waters  on  one  side,  and  by  still  more 
impassable  Indians  on  the  other? 

Thus  ran  the  gloomy  thoughts  and  queries  of 
the  men  when  the  light  of  day  revealed  the  extent 
of  their  calamity.  But  from  them  all  they  were 
soon  called  by  the  voice  of  Tomkins,  who  ordered 
first*  a  fire,  then  breakfast.  The  comfort  of  the 
one  to  their  stiflfened  limbs,  and  of  the  other  to 
their  craving  appetites,  soon  imparted  a  more 
lively  tone  to  their  conversation,  and  a  more 
cheerful  aspect  to  their  affairs ;  for  oftentimes  our 
spirits  are  as  much  affected  by  the  v^iew  we  take  of 
things,  as  by  the  things  themselves.  At  the 
earliest  convenient  moment,  Dr.  Gordon  sum- 
moned all  to  meet  him  in  what  he  called  a  "  coun- 
cil of  war,"  recapitulated  briefly  the  state  of  affairs, 
and  asked  what  was  to  be  done. 

"  Before  asking  your  opinions,  however,'^  said 
he,  "  I  think  it  is  right  to  state  some  facts  that 
may  not  be  known  to  you. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLANJ).  175 

"  Any  day  after  this  we  may  expect  the  passing 
of  the  revenue-cutter  Jackson,  as  near  sliore  as 
possible,  having  some  one  on  the  look-out  for  sig- 
nals from  us,  or  from  others  on  the  coast.  By 
stopping  her  and  getting  aboard,  we  may  either 
obtain  passage  direct  to  Tampa,  or  to  Key  West 
first,  and  thence  to  Tampa  by  other  means.  So 
that  our  case  is  not  so  hopeless  as  at  first  sight  it 
may  appear. 

*^  Moreover,  as  to  the  reported  hostilities  of  the 
Indians,  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  whatever 
these  may  have  been,  they  are  passing  away.  I 
have  not  felt  at  liberty  to  tell  you,  until  now,  that 
the  day  we  left  Tampa  orders  were  received  from 
Government  to  prepare  for  a  friendly  talk  with 
the  chiefs  at  Payne's  Landing.  No  doubt  the 
notice  has  reached  them  by  runners  ere  this,  and 
whatever  may  be  the  result  of  the  Talk,  there  will 
pretty  certainly  be  no  outbreak  until  after  it,  if 
there  is  at  all.  And,  as  confirmatory  of  this,  you 
have  yourselves  noticed  that  although  we  had 
some  signs  of  hostility  the  first  two  days  after  we 
left  Tampa,  we  have  had  none  since. 

"I,  therefore,  think  we  may  hope  for  good 
things  yet.'' 

This  little  harangue  had  so  tranquillizing  an 
effect  upon  the  spirits  of  the  men  that  they  actu- 
ally gave  Dr.  Gordon  an  unexpected  cheer.  He 
went  on  to  say,  — 

"I  think  the  questions  to  be  discussed  hy  us 
are  substantially  these,  — 

Digitized  by  CjOOQIC 


176  MAROONER'S  ISLAND 

"First.  What  order  are  we  to  to  take  in 
reference  to  the  schooner  Jackson?  Shall  we 
wait  for  her  here,  or  elsewhere?  or  shall  we  act 
independently  of  her? 

**  Secondly.  If  we  resolve  to  leave  this  place, 
what  shall  we  aim  to  do  ?  Shall  we  try  to  return 
direct  to  Tampa?  or  return  by  some  other  way? 

"Thirdly.  If  by  either  way,  how  shall  we 
attempt  it,  by  land  or  by  water  ? '' 
.  The  points  thus  systematically  and  lucidly 
arranged,  enabled  the  men  to  enter  with  spirit  on 
the  discussion,  which  was  both  free  and  full. 
Each  was  called  upon  in  turn,  and  each  had  some- 
thing sensible  to  say;  and  all  persons  noticed 
particularly  the  ready  devices  of  Wildcat,  the 
travelled  experience  of  Wheeler,  and  the  quiet  but 
resolute  courage,  of  Tomkins. 

In  consequence  of  the  discussion  it  was  unani- 
mously agreed, — First,  to  wait,  where  they  were, 
the  coming  of  the  cutter,  and  if  possible  to  return 
by  means  of  her  to  Tampa,  and,  secondly,  in  case 
it  were  not  possible  to  return  by  her,  to  make 
their  way  back  by  such  means  as  might  yet  be 
devised. 

Upon  this  last  point,  Wheeler  said, — 

"  With  the  sails  and  oars  saved  from  the  barge, 
it  might  be  possible  for  us  to  go  from  island  to 
island  of  the  group  through  which  we  passed 
yesterday,  by  means  of  a  long  light  raft,  made  up 
of  dry  logs.     And  if  the  weather  continues  good 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  177- 

after  this,  I  am  not  sure  but  that  we  might  thus 
pass  all  the  way  to  Tampa/^ 

Wildcat  offered  to  make  his  way  into  the  in- 
terior, if  it  were  desired,  and,  on  one  pretext  or 
other,  to  obtain  canoes  enough  to  carry  them  all 
back.  A  few  silver  dollars,  he  said,  would  obtain 
as  many  as  they  wanted.  But  he  insisted  that,  i£ 
he  went,  the  company  should  keep  in  perfect  con- 
cealment on  the  coast. 

On  the  subject  of  concealment,  Simpson  sug- 
gested that  a  close  watch  should  be  kept ;  that  all 
Indians  who  came  to  the  place  should  be  seized 
and  kept  in  confinement  until  the  company  de- 
parted ;  and  that  their  canoes  should  be  impressed 
for  the  company's  service. 

To  which  Tomkins  added  — "  Being  well  paid 
for  first."  Then  he  went  on  to  make  a  statement 
which  exceedingly  interested  his  listeners. 

"A  few  miles  below  this,"  said  he,  "I  think 
not  half  a  day's  sail  —  perhaps  not  two  hours' — 
there  is  an  island  which  no  Indian  dares  to  visit. 
Is  it  not  so.  Wildcat  ?  "  he  asked,  turning  to  his 
young  companion,  who  answered, — 

"So?  yes— Great  Spirit  Island." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Tomkins.  "  People  say  that 
it  is  enchanted,  and  that  no  one,  except  some  great 
Medicine-man,*  or  other  favorite  of  the  Great 
Spirit,  can  set  foot  on  it  and  return  alive.  For 
this  reason  it  is  never  visited  by  the  red  men,  al- 
though it  is  crowded  with  game.  If  we  are  driven 
M 

Digitized  by  CjOOQIC 


'178  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

to  the  necessity,  that  is  a  place  which  we  can  cer- 
tainly reach,  and  where  we  may  remain  unmo- 
lested as  long  as  we  stay.  A  friend  of  mine,  who 
was  left  there  once  by  mistake,  and  who  after- 
ward pointed  out  the  island  to  me,  as  we  were 
passing  up  the  coast,  informed  me  that  he  had 
«pent  two  months  there  most  delightfully,  among 
the  deer  and  turkeys,  and  fish  and  oysters,  with 
an  occasional  visit  from  a  bear  or  a  catamount ; 
but  that  in  all  that  time  he  had  never  seen  a  hu- 
man face,  white,  black,  or  red. 

*  Doctor,  or  Conjurer,  being  the  same  in  Indian  fancy. 


y  Google 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

NA  VIGA  TING  B  Y  RAFT—  SAIL  OR  SEA-BIRD  ?  —  CO  UN^ 
OIL  OF  WARy  SECOND  — AN  INDIAN  CAMP-FIRE- 
SIGNS  OF  DANGER  — DARING  INTRUSION, 

N  the  course  of  the  morning  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  supposed  tongue  of 
land  where  they  had  experienced  the 
terrific  gale  which  had  deprived  them 
of  their  boat,  was  virtually  an  island,  inclosed  on 
one  side  by  the  sea,  and  on  the  other  by  a  miry 
marsh  overflowed  daily  by  the  tide.  They  were 
thus  as  secure  as  they  could  expect  to  be  from 
hostile  approach,  but  they  discovered,  also,  after 
a  short  search,  that  they  were  likely  to  suffer  for 
the  want  of  fresh  water.  Unwilling  to  leave  a 
spot  so  well  suited,  in  many  respects,  to  their 
circumstances,  they  not  oply  explored  the  beach, 
and  even  attempted  distillation,  as  they  had  prac- 
tised on  a  former  occasion,  but,  under  Wheeler's 
direction,  they  bored  *  the  island  in  several  places 

*  For  the  details  of  these  processes  of  boring  and  distil- 
lation, see  Chapter  IX. 
179 


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180  MAROOKER'S  ISLAND. 

to  the  depth  of  the  ordinary  tide  mark  upon  tlie 
beach,  but  in  vain.  It  was  manifest  that  they 
must  remove  to  some  other  point. 

Several  miles  to  the  northward  was  a  bold, 
sandy  bluff,  which  they  had  noticed  in  passing  the 
day  before,  and  which  they  could  still  see,  that 
promised  both  a  better  look-out  upon  sea,  and  the 
precious  fluid,  of  which  they  were  beginning  al- 
ready to  feel  the  need.  By  Dr.  Gordon^s  advice, 
the  men  were  set  to  work  to  make  the  best  raft 
they  could  out  of  the  poor  material  furnished  by 
the  island.  A  number  of  the  longest  logs  to  be 
obtained  were  fastened  firmly  together,  with  all 
the  length  and  with  the  least  breadth  possible  for 
the  load  to  be  carried;  and  to  this  rude  structure 
were  attached  the  gunwales,  row-locks,  and  seats 
of  the  barge,  with  whatever  else  could  be  of  use ; 
so  that,  although  appearing  in  very  different  shape, 
and  possessed  of  vastly  inferior  qualities,  almost 
every  portion  of  the  wreck  was  consumed  in  the 
work. 

The  next  day,  (Tuesday,  Nov.  2d,)  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  they  embarked  with  all 
the  stores  they  had  saved,  and  by  vigorous  ply- 
ing of  the  oars  they  worked  their  sluggish  way 
against  wind  and  tide,  until  they  reached  a  low 
sandy  key,  covered  on  one  side  with  saw-palmet- 
toes,  and  on  the  other  with  an  impenetrable 
growth  of  mangroves.     While  toiling  heavily  un- 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  181 

der  the  lee  of  this  little  island  Jones  suddenly 
sung  out,  "  A  sail  I " 

"Where  away?'^  asked  Wheeler,  who  had 
temporarily  given  up  his  place  at  the  stein  to 
Jones,  and  who  looked  seaward  with  a  vain  at- 
tempt to  penetrate  the  dense  intervening  foliage. 

"Through  the  opening  in  the  palmettoes  we 
have  just  passed,^^  answered  Jones,  "and  right 
over  the  clump  of  oaks  on  the  island  beyond/' 

"Back  water,  men  I  back  water  I "  was  Wheel- 
er's order  to  the  oarsmen. 

The  raft  was  backed  until  it  reached  the  spot 
indicated  by  Jones,  but  nothing  could  be  dis- 
covered toward  sea  except  a  mixed  flock  of  gan- 
nets,  gulls,  and  curlews,  and  Wheeler  impatiently 
remarked, — 

"  I  gave  you  credit  for  a  better  eye,  Jones,  than 
to  mistake  a  flock  of  birds  for  the  sails  of  a  vessel." 

"Those  were  not  birds  I  spoke  of,"  Jones 
quickly  replied ;  "  I  saw  the  birds,  and  saw  the 
sails,  too.  It  was  but  a  glimpse  I  had,  it  is  true, 
but  if  that  was  not  a  vessel,  you  and  the  men  may 
laugh  at  me  all  the  rest  of  my  life,  and  never  trust 
my  sight  again.  I  tell  you  it  was  a  vessel.  She 
had  all  her  sails  spread,  was  at  least  four  miles 
away,  and  seemed  to  be  sailing  very  fast." 

This  earnest^  reiteration  on  the  part  of  Jones 
stopped  the  laugh  that  had  arisen,  when  Wheeler 
added, — 


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182  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"  We  must  run  no  risks  about  the  cutter.  Pull 
away,  men !  and  all  of  you  keep  a  sharp  look-out 
for  some  opening  through  these  mangroves.  We 
must  get  ashore  and  raise  a  smoke,  even  if  it  is  to 
be  seen  only  by  gannets  and  curlews.'' 

They  made  all  the  speed  possible,  until  they 
found  a  place  where  the  mud  was  hard  enough  to 
bear  their  weight,  aiid  the  mangroves  open  enough 
to  allow  a  passage  through;  and  no  sooner  had 
one  of  the  men  pushed  his  way  to  a  point  where 
he  could  see,  than  he  cried  out, — 

"  Jones  is  right.     The  cutter  is  passing ! '' 

"You  had  better  say  she  has  passed,''  said 
Tomkins  hastily ;  then  with  a  shout,  "  All  hands 
to  work  to  raise  a  smoke.  Quick !  quick  !  before 
our  chance  is  gone ! " 

Each  man  sprang  to  his  duty,  and  with  pocket- 
knife,  hatchet,  or  axe,  severed  and  brought  to- 
gether so  large  a  pile  of  green  foliage  from  the 
mangroves  and  palmettoes  that,  ere  Tomkins  had 
his  fire  of  dry  twigs  ready,  he  had  to  say  to  the 
men,  "  Hold  !  enough ! "  Wheeler,  meanwhile, 
had  tried  other  signals.  Asking  the  assistance  of 
Dr.  Gordon  and  Wildcat,  he  had  brought  ashore 
the  boat's^  flag,  and  then  waved  it  high  as  they 
could  reach  by  means  of  two  oars  lashed  together. 
The  loaded  muskets  of  the  men  had  also  been 
brought  ashore,  and  as  soon  as  the  flag  was  ready 
for  waving,  he  asked  a  moment's  use  of  the  men, 


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MAROONER\S  ISLAND,  183 

who  not  only  fired  their  pieces  simultaneously,  but 
also  discharged  them  upwards,  that  their  smoke 
as  well  as  sound  might  serve  as  a  signal  to  the 
cutter. 

Eagerly  did  they  watch  the  effect  of  these  sig- 
nals, and  afterwards  of  the  dense  smoke  from  the 
pile  of  green  herbage,  rising  obliquely  in  the  wind 
until  it  had  attained  its  equilibrium,  then  stretch- 
ing like  a  streamer  for  miles  over  land  and  water. 
None  of  them,  however,  seemed  to  have  reached 
the  eyes  or  ears  of  any  one  on  board.  The  white 
canvas,  distinctly  visible  behind  the  low  growth 
of  a  distant  island,  continued  spread  and  set  as 
before,  until  it  passed  wholly  out  of  sight.  They 
had  seen  the  cutter  just  a  few  minutes  too  late  to 
arrest  her  attention. 

With  her  disappearance,  the  men  looked  anx- 
iously into  each  other's  faces,  and  asked,  by  ex- 
pression of  countenance,  if  not  by  so  many  words. 
What  shall  we  do  now?  But  this  question 
they  were  not  allowed  many  minutes  to  discuss, 
for  Tomkins,  observing  their  dejection,  ordered 
them  all  to  the  raft,  saying,  "  The  first  thing  we 
have  to  do  is  to  reach  yon  point  and  quench  our 
thirst." 

The  wind  being  now  somewhat  in  their  favor, 
Wheeler  raised  the  sail,  remarking  he  had  no 
doubt  that  their  deep-lying  craft  would  obey  the 
helm,  the  same  as  if  it  were  a  keeled  vessel.     "  In- 


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184  MAROONER'8  ISLAND. 

deed,"  said  he,  "  she  is  all  heeV^  This  expectation 
was  not  wholly  disappointed;  they  made  a  great 
deal  of  lee-way,  because  their  craft  was  too  heavy 
to  slide  through  the  water,  and,  therefore,  with 
the  wind  abeam,  they  drifted  sideways  almost  as 
much  as  they  went  forward.  Still  the  sail  was  a 
great  assistance,  when  co-operating  with  the  oars, 
to  obtain  headway,  and  they  made  such  comfort- 
able progress  that  Wheeler  expressed  himself 
much  encouraged,  although  Tomkins  laughingly 
remarked  about  their  change  from  the  barge  to  the 
raft  that  they  had  "  gone  from  a  stage-coach  to  an 
ox-cart." 

The  bluff,  which  they  reached  in  due  course  of 
sail,  furnished  them  plentifully  with  what  they 
needed, — fresh  water  of  an  excellent  quality,  with 
which  they  filled  every  canteen,  kettle  and  pot,  as 
well  as  the  runlet.  It  had  been  the  intention  of 
Dr.  Gordon  and  Tomkins  to  leave  the  main  after 
supplying  themselves  with  water,  and  seek  a  lodg- 
ing for  the  night  on  some  of  the  islands,  as  usual ; 
but  the  sun  was  now  so  near  the  horizon,  and 
their  craft  so  slow-motioned,  that  they  were  con- 
strained to  abandon  the  purpose.  Calling  a  halt 
at  so  early  an  hour  resulted,  however,  in  two  ad- 
vantages— it  enabled  them  to  select  at  leisure 
their  place  for  encampment,  so  situated  that  it 
could  be  easily  watched  and  as  easily  defended, 


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MAROONER'8  ISLAND.  185 

and  also  to  hold  another  "  council  of  war  "  upon 
the  subject  of  duty  in  their  present  change  of 
circumstances. 

The  discussions  which  nbw  arose  were  far 
from  being  animated  or  hopeful;  for,  as  a  sailor 
would  say,  the  sheet  anchor  of  their  hopes  had 
been  lost  with  their  chance  of  return  by  the  cutter. 
The  questions  proposed  by  Dr.  Gordon  were 
simply  these :  "  Shall  we  attempt  a  return  direct 
to  Tampa?  and,  if  so,  how?'^ 

On  the  first  of  these  questions  *  there  was  but 
little  difference  of  opinion.  No  one  thought  of 
remaining  where  they  were,  and  no  one  thought 
that  any  place  yet  seen  offered  them  any  special 
inducement  to  abide.  The  only  division  of  opin- 
ion was,  for  a  time,  in  the  preference  expressed  by 
Jones,  and  supported  by  Wheeler,  to  seek  a  refuge 
on  that  enchanted  island  of  which  Tomkins  had 
spoken,  the  same  that  Wildcat  had  called  "  Great 
Spirit  Island ;  ^^  but  when  they  came  to  analyze 
their  motives  for  this  preference,  it  was  manifest 
that  they  had  been  influenced  more  by  their  love 
of  wild-woods  life  than  by  any  advantage  arising 
to  the  expedition.  Moreover,  Jones  observed, 
during  the  discussion,  such  an  expression  of  dis- 
tress on  the  countenance  of  his  young  friend. 
Wildcat,  who,  with  all  his  good  sense,  evidently 
sympathized  with  the  superstitions  of  his  people, 
that  he  not  only  ceased  to  express  his  own  prefer- 


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186  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

ence  on  the  subject,  but  prevailed  upon  Wheeler 
to  do  the  same. 

Upon  the  question,  which  incidentally  arose, 
whether  it  would  not  be  better  to  work  their  way 
southwardly  to  the  Florida  cape,  and  thence  over 
to  Key  West  or  the  Tortugas,  it  was  decided  that 
the  distance  to  those  places  was  probably  as  great 
as  it  was  to  Tampa,  while  they  were  far  more 
inaccessible  on  account  of  the  open  sea  between. 
The  unanimous  verdict  was,  therefore,  that  they 
should  return  to  Tampa. 

Upon  the  second  question — How?  there  was  a 
long  and  careful  comparison  of  views,  and  the 
decision  was  that  they  should  continue  to  use 
their  raft  until  they  had  passed  the  waters  of  the 
Caloosahatchie  River,  and  of  Charlotte  Harbor, 
(which  extended  too  far  inland  to  allow  the  hope 
of  heading  them  in  safety,)  and  then  that  they 
should  make  their  way  on  foot  along  the  beach  as 
far  as  Manatee  Bay,  if  not  to  Tampa  itself. 

These  discussions  occupied  them  until  deep 
twilight,  when  they  prepared  for  supper,  and  after 
that  for  bed.  The  weather  had  been  cool  ever 
since  the  storm,  and  the  men  felt  the  need  of  fire. 
To  this,  however.  Wildcat  objected  very  strongly, 
on  account  of  the  exposure  to  observation  which 
it  would  occasion,  and  finally  went  to  Dr.  Gordon 
to  say,— 

"Tell  men  make  little  fire;  tell  men  hide  it. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  187 

Injin  hear  too  much  gun,"  alluding  to  the  volleys 
fired  that  afternoon.  "  Injin  see  too  much  smoke. 
Will  come,  see  who  ^s  here." 

In  the  excitement  caused  by  their  great  calamity 
in  losing  the  help  of  the  cutter,  no  one  had  thought 
of  the  probable  efiect  which  the  signals  intended 
for  the  vessel  might  have  had  upon  the  people  on 
shore.  Wildcat's  remonstrance  was,  therefore, 
indicative  of  more  than  usual  shrewdness,  and  his 
carrying  it  to  Dr.  Gordon  showed  also  his  sense 
of  propriety,  for  he  knew  it  was  the  habit  of  the 
officers  to  keep  from  the  men  all  intelligence  of  a 
discouraging  character.  Dr.  Gordon  was  very 
much  pleased  with  these  traits  in  his  young  friend, 
and  after  a  moment's  conference  with  Sergeant 
Tomkins,  he  said  to  Wildcat, — 

"  Go,  say  to  the  men  from  me,  that  they  must 
have  very  little  fire,  and  that  they  must  let  you 
manage  it." 

Wildcat  went  to  the  men,  delivered  his  message 
as  well  as  he  could,  and  added :  "  Much  fire  don't 
need ;  Injin  fire  nevefi*  big;^'  then  with  a  laugh  at 
the  picture  he  was  about  to  give,  he  continued : 
^^  White  man  make  big  fire,  and  stand  way  oft*  in 
the  cold.  Injin  make  little  fire,  get  close  over  it, 
and  is  warm." 

Being  instructed  to  manage  it,  he  first  selected 
a  spot  as  much  concealed  as  possible  by  the  growth 
of  bushes,  then   increased   that  concealment   by 


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188  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

* 

planting  a  screen  of  thick  bushes  in  places  where 
they  were  lacking.  After  which  he  took  two  of 
the  men  and  brought  a  number  of  thoroughly 
dried  saplings,  of  which  he  put  the  ends  of  four 
or  five  together,  and  set  them  to  burning  at  the 
point  of  contact,  for  an  Indian  seldom  hea'p^  his 
fire,  or  makes  it  of  large  logs,  but  uses  long,  small, 
dry  wood,  with  which  he  keeps  up  his  fire  by 
shoving  the  burning  ends  together.  Having  thus 
obeyed  orders,  he  called  the  men  and  made  them 
get  as  near  over  the  blaze  as  they  could,  while  he 
squatted  with  them,  Indian  fashion,  and  encour- 
aged the  warm  air  of  the  fire  to  come  under  his 
deer-skin  clothes  and  next  his  flesh. 

Thus  sat  or  stood  the  men,  talking  freely  and 
hopefully  of  their  prospects.  Laugh,  jest,  and 
story  went  merrily  around,  and  they  were  certainly 
a  more  cheerful-looking  set  than  they  were  only 
a  few  hours  before ;  yet  why  ?  No  doubt  it  would 
have  been  difficult  for  any  of  them  to  say ;  but  the 
secret  was  this :  they  had  now  a  definite  aim,  and 
a  definite  plan  by  which  to  accomplish  it.  This 
is  all  that  a  man,  who  is  a  man,  needs  to  prove 
that  he  is  one.  Suspense  or  inaction  may  paralyze 
him,  but  give  him  something  to  do  and  he  will 
soon  animate  himself  with  hope. 

While  the  men  thus  circled  cosily  around  their 
Indian  fire,  there  occurred  an  incident  which 
hushed  every  laugh  and  jest,  and  threw  a  tem- 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  .189 

porary  gloom  over  the  company.  The  site  for  the 
encampment  had  been  selected  in  a  sharp  angle  of 
the  bluff,  peninsula-like,  where  the  men  might 
lie  at  ease  among  the  thick-growing  myrtles  and 
cassinas,  and  where  the  sentinel  could  keep  easy 
watch  over  the  whole  camp,  front  and  rear,  by 
treading  his  path  across  the  neck  of  the  peninsula, 
and,  at  each  end  of  his  beat,  looking  down  the 
bluff,  first  on  this  side,  then  on  that.  At  this 
hour  Wheeler  was  on  duty,  and  as  the  warning  of 
Wildcat  had  suggested  that  danger  might  be  ap- 
prehended from  enemies  on  the  main,  he  and 
Tomkins  had  agreed  upon  a  private  signal — a 
low,  short  cough. 

The  moon  had  not  yet  risen,  though  the  eastern 
sky  was  brightening  with  the  promise  of  her 
coming,  and  the  red  embers  threw  a  lurid  glare 
upon  the  faces  of  the  men,  as  they  warmed  them- 
selves in  preparation  for  sleep,  each  with  his  blan- 
ket in  hand,  or  spread  like  a  cloak  upon  his  back. 
The  lively  talk  had  ceased  in  momentary  expec- 
tation of  the  order  to  "  turn  in,"  when  Dr.  Gror- 
don  heard  a  low,  short  cough  from  Wheeler,  the 
sentinel.  He  then  observed  Tomkins  look  down- 
ward, as  if  in  deep  thought,  saying,  ^^  Hist ! "  then 
turn  his  ear  toward  the  bushes  and  listen  in  an 
attitude  of  seeming  carelessness,  but,  as  his  ex- 
panded mostril  and  quick-moving  eye  indicated, 
of  profound  attention.     Looking  now  at  Wildcat, 


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190  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

Dr.  Gordon  observed  him  also  with  an  uneasy  air 
endeavoring  to  appear  unconcerned,  but  evidently 
on  the  alert  for  sounds  from  a  distance.  Simpson's 
posture  was  however  the  most  noticeable  of  them 
all,  sitting  with  his  face  toward  the  sentinel,  and 
with  his  head  enveloped  in  his  blanket,  so  that  he 
could  scarcely  be  recognized,  he  was  not  only 
listening  like  the  other  two,  but  had  his  feet  and 
legs  bent  under  him  ready  for  an  instant  spring. 
Dr.  Gordon  was  surprised  to  see  how  keen  were 
the  senses  of  those  who  had  lived  much  among  the 
Indians.  Soon  Tomkins'  voice  was  heard  in  a 
very  low  whisper  from  behind  his  hand,  which 
hid  the  motion  of  his  lips, — 

"Hist,  men !  Don't  move,  any  of  you.  There 
is  an  Indian  in  the  bush.  Jones,  rise;  move 
slowly  as  if  going  to  bed,  then  quickly  throw  your 
blanket  over  the  fire,  and  jump  out  of  the  way. 
As  he  does  this,  do  you  all  leap  from  your  places, 
seize  your  guns,  and  be  ready  to  obey  orders." 

Jones  did  as  he  was  ordered,  and  so  did  the 
men,  with  as  much  promptness  as  if  this  Indian 
movement  had  been  a  part  of  their  ordinary  drill ; 
but  as  it  was  taking  place  there  came  from  a 
thicket  about  fifty  paces  beyond  the  sentinel,  the 
sharp  crack  of  a  rifle. 

"Missed  that  timef  Simpson  was  heard  ex- 
ultingly  to  exclaim,  in  a  voice  barely  loud  enough 
to  reach  the  ears  of  the  men,  when  he  added,  in  a 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  191 

somewhat  louder  tone,  "'No,  by  Jacks!  he  has 
hit  me/'' 

Instantly  the  musket  of  Wheeler  darted  its  ex- 
panding volume  of  fire  and  smoke  toward  the 
hostile  intruder,  and  his  voice  followed  it,  saying, 
"There's  but  one,  and  I  think  I  have  stopped 
him." 

"  Charge,  men ! "  shouted  Tomkins,  seizing  a 
musket  and  rushing  toward  the  spot.  All  who 
had  muskets  went  with  him,  but  everything  there 
was  quiet,  and  no  enemy  was  to  be  seen  either 
dead  or  alive.  Ordering -a  halt,  and  calling  for 
perfect  silence,  they  could  hear  afar  off  the  quick, 
soft  tread  of  a  moccasined  foot  moving  rapidly 
away. 

^'  There  was  but  one  red-skin,"  said  Wheeler ; 
*^  he  must  have  been  a  daring  fellow  I " 

Soon  after  this  the  moon  arose.  "  We  will  have 
no  further  disturbance  to-night,"  said  Tomkins. 
"  Indians  never  attack  by  moonlight  if  they  can 
have  darkness." 


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CHAPTER  XVII, 

SOMETHING  IN  THE  BUSH— PLANS  FOR  THE  NIGHT 
—  A  FIRE-HUNT—DEERS  EYES  BY  TORCHLIGHT— 
—DISAPPOINTMENT  AND  RELIEF  —  INDIAN  DE- 
VICE —  LA  TE  SUPPER  —  EMBARKATION  —  POOR 
PROGRESS. 


OON  after  this  the  whole  camp  was  in  a 
state  of  repose.  Nothing  was  to  be 
heard  but  the  hard  breathing  of  the 
sleepers,  and  the  footfalls  of  the  sentinel 
whose  quiet  tramp  upon  the  appointed  beat  was 
as  regular  as  the  ticking  of  a  clock  ;  for  Tomkins 
was  so  sure  there  would  be  no  further  disturbance 
from  Indians  after  the  rising  of  the  moon  that  he 
encouraged  all  to  go  quickly  and  soundly  to  sleep. 
A  little  past  midnight,  however,  he  himself  was 
called  from  his  bivouac.  The  sentinel  on  duty  at 
that  hour  was  Simpson,  whose  hurt,  a  mere  scratch 
on  the  temple,  needing  only  the  staunching  in- 
fluence of  a  little  cold  water,  did  not  at  all  *dis- 
qualify  him  for  service.  .  Having  been  instructed 

to  give  the  Sergeant  private  warning  in  the  event 
192 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  193 

of  anything  unusual,  he  came  and  with  a  gentle 
shake  said — 

"  I  hear  something  in  the  bush !  '^ 

They  went  noiselessly  to  the  concealment  of  a 
leafy  evergreen,  where  they  listened,  and  became 
convinced  that  there  was  either  a  human  being  or 
some  large  animal  stealthily  moving  through  the 
underbrush.  They  could  distinctly  hear  the  rustle 
of  leaves  displaced,  and  the  gentle  crush  of  a  soft 
foot  on  grass  and  brittle  twigs.  They  pressed 
cautiously  forward  to  reconnoitre  under  cover  of  a 
screen  of  vines,  and  peeped  between  its  openings 
to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  intruder,  when  Simpson, 
whose  sense  of  hearing  had  been  cultivated  to  an 
unusual  degree,  said  in  an  undertone  — 

"Too  much  noise  for  Injin.  It  must  be  some 
sort  of  varmint — a  bar,  maybe,  ov^  painter.  Yes, 
thar  he  is  now!"  pointing  to  a  little  glade  on 
which  the  moonbeams  brightly  shone.  Tomkins 
looked  and  almost  shuddered  to  see  an  enormous 
panther  passing  slowly,  and  as  he  fancied,  reluc* 
tantly,  away  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  sleepere. 

With  the  first  peep  of  day,  Wheeler,  the  sailing* 
master,  caused  all  to  be  aroused,  saying  that  the 
tide  was  moving  northward,  and  that  it  was  im- 
portant they  should  avail  themselves  of  its  assist- 
ance to  carry  forward  their  clumsy  craft.  The 
toilet  of  a  soldier  on  bivouac  does  not  usually 
occupy  many  minutes ;  he  has  only  to  shake  him- 
N 


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194  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

self,  and  is  ready  for  breakfast  or  for  service. 
General  ablutions,  hair  brushings,  and  other  acts 
of  civilized  life,  are  not  always  observed.  Break- 
fast was  soon  dispatched,  the  raft  loaded,  and  the 
company  afloat.  A  fine  breeze,  directly  astern,  as- 
sisted the  tide,  and  kept  it  company  for  eight* 
hours,  during  which  they  made  the  distance  of 
twenty-four  miles,  when  it  ceased  and  the  raft 
made  such  slow  progress  with  the  scarcely  moving 
water  that,  although  the  sun  was  an  hour  or  more 
above  the  horizon,  they  resolved  to  encamp  where 
they  were,  and  await  the  expected  renewal  of  wind 
and  tide  next  morning.  All  were  much  encouraged 
with  the  success  of  the  day,  and  the  sailing-master 
strongly  insisted  that,  slow  and  uncertain  as  their 
progress  had  been,  it  would  be  safer  and  better  for 
them  to  use  the  raft  all  the  way  to  Tampa. 

"  No  doubt  we  shall  readily  agree  to  it,"  the 
Sergeant  replied,  "  if  you  will  provide  us  all  the 
way  with  wind  and  tide." 

"  I  can  try,"  said  Wheeler  laughing.  "  Let  us 
see  what  shall  be  our  success  to-morrow  morning." 

They  had  stopped  at  a  prettily  wooded  island, 
which  promised  a  pleasant,  and  perhaps  safe,  rest- 
ing place  for  the  night.     On  landing  and  looking 

*  Persons  accustomed  only  to  the  Atlantic  tides  may  re^ 
gard  this  statement  as  made  by  mistake  ;  but  they  will  findl^ 
upon  inquiry  that  from  Tampa  Bay  to  Punta  Largo  there  is 
but  one  tide  a  day,  and  that  not  very  high,  haying  a  rise  and 
fall  of  only  about  three  feet. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  105 

around,  nothing  was  seen  worthy  of  note  except 
the  fresh  signs  of  deer  in  such  abundance  as  to 
arouse  in  the  hunters  of  the  company  a  desire  for 
game.  A  short  conference  with  each  other  re- 
sulted in  a  determination  to  ask  permission  for 
Wheeler,  Jones  and  Wildcat,  to  go  upon  a  fire- 
hunt  that  night. 

"  Our  time  for  going  out  must  either  be  now, 
before  sunset,  or  at  nine  o'clock  to-night,  when  the 
moon  rises,'^  said  Wheeler  to  Tomkins.  "But 
there  is  so  little  time  before  dark,  and  we  know  so 
little  of  the  haunts  of  the  deer  that  I  propose  to 
spend  the  hour  of  daylight  that  is  left  in  looking 
out  the  deer  paths ;  and  then  to  take  Jones  and 
Wildcat  with  me  on  the  hunt  after  moon-rise,  when 
the  deer  are  pretty  sure,  to  be  on  foot,  either:  feed- 
ing or  going  after  water.'' 

Permission  to  this  effect  was  readily  given  by 
Tomkins,  especially  with  the  encouragement  of 
Dr.  Gordon,  whose  sympathies  were  ever  ready. 

Wheeler  returned  from  his  exploring  tour  about 
sunset,  and  reported  every  encouragement  for  ex- 
pecting a  successful  hunt  that  night,  at  the  same 
time  turning  over  to  Magruder  a  fine  wild  turkey 
which  he  had  shot  upon  the  way.  The  two  ex- 
pectants of  the  sport,  who  had  remained  in  camp, 
had  occupied  themselves  in  hunting  a  supply  of 
the  richest  pine  to  be  had,  and  now  spent  the  in- 
terval between  sunset  and  dark  in  reducing  it  to 


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196  MAROONER'8    ISLAND, 

small  splints,  and  tying  it  into  a  fagot  convenient 
for  carrying.  Magruder,  the  cook,  was  solicited 
for  a  frying-pan,  which  he  lent  on  condition  thai 
it  should  be  returned  in  good  order,  or  with  an 
equivalent  for  the  trouble  he  should  have  in  clean- 
ing it.  With  these  preparations,  the  hunters  were 
ready  for  their  departure,  and  then  waited  only 
for  the  moon. 

Gradually  the  eastern  sky  brightened,  and  when 
the  first  silvery  tip  of  the  moon  was  seen,  they  set 
out,  Jones  bearing  the  fagote  of  resinous  pine, 
and  Wildcat  balancing  upon  his  shoulder  the  fry- 
ing-pan, from  which  the  burning  splinters  threw 
a  strong  light  forward,  illumining  the  backs  of 
the  hunters  and  the  forests  before  them,  but  leav- 
ing their  faces  in  shadow.  Another  provision  was 
as  necessary  as  fire,  which  was  to  get  and  "  keep 
the  wind''  of  their  game;  but  the  air  was  so  still 
as  to  leave  them  in  doubt  which  way  it  blew.  To 
determine  this  important  point.  Wildcat  practised 
the  Indian  device  of  wetting  his  finger  in  his 
mouth,  then  standing  still  and  holding  it  perpen- 
dicularly in  the  air  to  discover  which  side  was 
coolest.  He  pointed  due  north,  and  as  he  did  so, 
Jones  called  attention  to  the  smoke  from  their 
frying-pan,  which,  after  rising  a  few  feet,  inclined 
steadily  toward  the  south.  With  these  indications 
they  went  to  the  southern  end  of  the  island,  and 
struck  their  course  northward.     Having  walked 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  197 

about  hall  a  mile,  Wheeler  suddenly  stopped  the 
others,  saying,  '^I  see  a  deer/' 

Jones  and  Wildcat  looked  in  the  direction  indi- 
cated, and  saw  a  bright  red  spot  shining  in  the 
far-off  darkness. 

"  That  spot,"  said  Wheeler,  in  a  very  low  tone, 
"  is  made  by  the  eyes  of  a  deer,  blended  by  the 
distance.  It  is  at  least  eighty  or  a  hundred  yards 
away.  When  we  have  come  within  sixty  yards, 
that  spot  will  become  a  stripe  of  light.  The  eyes 
then  begin  to  divide ;  but  you  will  not  see  them 
shine  as  two  until  you  have  come  within  forty  or 
fifty  yards,  or  perhaps  less.  Then  we  must  get 
ready  to  shoot.  A  cow's  eyes  have  a  light  and 
watery  appearance,  and  divide  at  the  distance  of 
eighty  yards." 

"But  look!"  said  Jones,  *^ there  are  two  or 
three  more  spots  shining  in  the  dark." 

"  I  expected  that,"  answered  Wheeler.  "  Each 
of  us  now  can  have  a  shot.  We  will  move  on 
softly  until  these  eyes  have  fully  divided.  Then, 
Wildcat,  you  must  set  down  your  light  behind 
you,  and  we  must  all  prepare  to  shoot.  Do  not 
aim  at  the  eyes,  but  a  foot  below.  A  deer  when 
feeding  never  turns  his  body,  but  only  his  head, 
and  when  you  shoot  by  firelight  you  can  seldom 
tell  whether  he  has  turned  toward  you  his  side, 
his  breast,  or  his  tail.  You  only  know  that  a  foot 
below  his  eyes  you  are  most  likely  to  give  him  his 


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198  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

death-wound.  Jones,  do  you  take  the  rightmost 
deer ;  I  will  take  the  buck  to  the  left,  and  Wildcat 
may  choose  one  between.  As  soon  as  we  are  all 
ready,  I  will  give  a  low  whistle,  then  we  must 
take  aim ;  after  that  I  will  give  another,  when  we 
must  fire  together." 

They  moved  forward  until  the  red  spot  of  light 
had  become  elongated  into  a  stripe,  showing  that 
their  distance  was  sixty  yards  or  less ;  then  a  lit- 
tle farther,  when  that  stripe  had  divided  into 
two  distinct  sparks  of  light.  Here  they  began  to 
look  about  for  some  place  on  which  Wildcat  and 
Jones  might  deposit  their  respective  burdens. 

"  The  deer  will  not  run,"  said  Wheeler,  "  until 
we  approach  within  twenty  steps  or  less,  but  we 
hax3  better  not  try  them  too  far." 

Wildcat's  fire-pan  was  set  upon  what  Jones 
called  a  "  harry-cane  "  *  root,  and  beside  this  mass 
Jones  also   deposited  his  burden  of  light- wood. 

At  a  slight  whistle  from  their  leader,  they  all 
levelled  their  pieces,  and  at  another  signal  they 
pulled  trigger ;  then  snatching  up  the  light,  they 
ran  to  see  what  execution  had  been  done.  W^hee- 
ler's  buck  lay  dead  in  its  tracks,  having  leaped 
spasmodically  upward,  then  fallen  where  it  stood. 
Jones's  fell  about  twenty  steps  away.     Wildcat's 

*  Hurricane-root,  meaning  a  mixed  mass  of  earth  and 
roots  upturned  by  a  gale. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  199 

was  nowhere  to  be  found,  and  his  disappointment 
seemed  to  be  very  great.  Indeed,  his  mortification 
caused  him  to  be  almost  loquacious. 

"I  not  used  to  musket,"  said  he;  "I  used  to 
rifle.  I  kill,  though ;  when  daylight  come,  you 
find  mine  too,  if  no  wolf  here."  And  the  others 
kindly  encouraged  him  in  this  hope. 

As  a  company  they  had  reason  to  be  satisfied 
with  their  work,  notwithstanding  poor  Wildcat's 
failure,  for  there,  upon  the  ground,  lay  as  much 
venison  as  their  united  strength  would  enable  them 
to  carry  back  to  camp,  encumbered  as  they  were 
with  guns  and  other  things.  Tying  the  legs  of 
the  buck  and  suspending  it  upon  a  pole,  Jones  and 
Wildcat  lifted  it  between  them,  while  Wheeler 
took  the  other  upon  his  own  brawny  back. 

Loaded  thus,  they  were  about  to  start  home, 
when  the  whole  plan  was  altered  in  consequence 
of  a  pleasant  and  unexpected  discovery  made  by 
Wildcat.  The  pole  proving  too  slender,  they  were 
seeking  another,  at  some  distance  from  the  scene 
of  slaughter,  when  they  were  surprised  by  the 
sound  of  a  rustling  in  the  bushes,  accompanied  by 
a  long,  deep  sigh.  Wheeler  and  Jones  looked 
wistfully  at  each  other,  but  Wildcat,  with  a  joy- 
ful "I  say  so!"  rushed  toward  the  place  of  the 
sound,  saying  to  the  others, "  Come  see ! "  Crouched 
in  a  thicket,  lay  a  half-grown  buck,  with  broken 
leg  and  wounded  side,  just  in  the  act  of  expiring. 


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200  marooxjlR'S  island. 

They  bled  it,  like  the  others,  by  severing  the  blood- 
vessels of  the  neck.  And  now,  the  load  being 
wholly  beyond  their  strength,  they  resolved  to 
leave  the  greater  part  of  it  till  mornftig,  protected 
from  wolves  by  the  usual  device.  They  bent  down 
two  strong  saplings,  and  trimming  a  forked  branch 
at  the  upper  end  of  each,  inserted  it  into  a  hole 
cut  in  the  abdomen  of  the  two  smaller  deer  and 
let  each  fly  back  to  its  place. 

"  Now  let  us  travel ! "  said  Wheeler,  and  soon 
they  were  on  their  way,  Wildcat  leading  the  van 
with  his  pan  of  fire,  and  the  two  men  bearing  the 
large  fat  buck  between  them. 

It  was  past  ten  o'clock  when  they  reached  camp, 
and  by  ordinary  rule  every  man  ought  to  have 
been  in  bed  and  asleep,  but  their  labors  that  day 
had  been  light,  and  their  sympathy  with  the  hunt- 
ers had  kept  them  awake;  in  addition  to  which, 
the  sound  of  the  three  guns  had  raised  their  ex- 
pectations, and  they  were  waiting  to  see  the  result 
of  the  expedition.  It  must  be  confessed,  too,  that 
the  wakefulness  of  some  of  the  men  was  greatly 
increased  by  a  vivid  conception  of  the  odor  and 
taste  of  broiled  venison.  When  the  hunters  came 
in,  they  threw  their  game  upon  the  ground,  leaving 
to  the  others  the  pleasure  of  skinning  and  quarter- 
ing it,  and  they  watched  with  interest  the  nice  tit- 
bits which  were  soon  frying  upon  the  coals,  and 
the  larger  and  more  luscious  pieces  that  were  thrust 


y  Google 


MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  201 

under  the  embers  to  roast,  after  having  been  en- 
veloped in  a  thick  coating  of  green  leaves.  Whether 
it  were  that  the  venison  killed  that  night  was  un- 
commonly fat  and  tender,  or  that  the  smoke  and 
ashes  of  the  fire  imparted  a  peculiar  flavor,  both 
Dr.  Gordon  and  Tomkins  declared  that  never  had 
venison  tasted  sweeter. 

At  daybreak  four  men  were  detailed  to  bring  in 
the  game  left  in  the  woods.  There  had  evidently 
been  some  hungry  visitors  at  the  spot,  as  was 
manifest  from  the  disappearance  of  the  offals, 
which  had  been  thrown  upon  the  ground,  but  the 
bodies  suspended  in  the  tops  of  the  saplings  had 
been  untouched. 

A  rich  breakfast  of  venison  steaks,  broiled  ribs 
and  fried  liver  awaited  their  return,  and  a  plenti- 
ful supply  of  the  same  was  prepared  also  for  their 
midday  meal,  and  by  the  time  they  were  ready  to 
embark,  the  wind  and  tide  were  inviting  them  to 
go.  They  made  for  the  northern  shore  of  Char- 
lotte Harbor,  which  was  in  full  sight,  but  towards 
which  their  progress  was  not  so  rapid  or  so  encour- 
aging as  it  had  been  the  day  before.  Not  only 
was  the  northward  tendency  of  the  tide  impeded 
by  its  flow  sideways  into  the  harbor,  but  the  raft 
lay  more  heavily  in  the  water,  being  saturated  by 
several  days'  submersion,  and  therefore  less  buoy- 
ant. It  began  to  be  certain  that  either  they  must 
work  their  way  to  Tampa  by  land,  or  provide 
something  more  manageable  than  the  raft. 

*  Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


J. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

LIFE   ON  THE  PRAIRIES—WASTE   OF  LIFE— FIRE! 
FIRE!  — RUSH  OF  BUFFALOES— ROUGH  RIDINQ, 

T  was  during  the  laborious  voyage  of 
this  day  that  Dr.  Gordon,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  enlivening  the  spirits  of  the  men, 
said  to  Wheeler,  — 
"  You  remarked  the  other  night,  when  our  island 
was  afire,  that  you  had  witnessed  a  grand  fire-scene 
of  some  kind,  out  West.  I,  for  one,  will  be  glad 
to  hear  the  particulars,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 
others  of  the  company  will  too." 

"  Oh,  it  was  only  a  fire  on  the  prairies,  a  com- 
mon thing  enough  out  there,  and  a  grand  thing, 
too,"  the  other  replied;  "  yet  it  was  a  small  matter 
in  itself,  as  compared  with  a  trouble  that  came 
along  with  it." 

"Indeed!"  said  Dr.  Gordon;  "do  tell  us  all 
about  it. 

Wheeler  seemed  gratified  with  the  request,  and 
after  a  little  premising,  went  on  to  give  the  follow- 
ing account:  — 

202 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  203 

'^  I  was  travelling  once  as  leader  to  a  company 
of  traders  returning  from  Santa  Fe,  in  New  Mex- 
ico. We  had  had  a  merry  time  of  it,  for  most  of 
the  men  were  as  much  hunters  as  traders,  and  had 
enjoyed  themselves  greatly  in  chasing  the  buffalo 
as  we  passed  their  feeding-grounds.  It  was  not 
uncommon  for  a  hunter  to  kill  four  or  five  a  day, 
and  there  was  one  of  them  who  said  that  he  had 
one  day  killed  as  many  as  nine.  This  was  a  great 
waste  of  life ;  for,  though  we  had  over  a  hundred 
persons  in  the  company,  and  at  least  forty  wagons 
in  the  train,  we  could  neither  eat  nor  carry  all  the 
meat  that  was  killed ;  the  hunters  contenting  them- 
selves with  cutting  out  the  tongues,  tenderloins, 
and  humps,  and  leaving  the  rest  to  be  devoured  by 
wolves.  You,  Doctor,  and  the  others  know  that 
I  am  not  particularly  superstitious,  but  I  confess 
that  this  waste  of  life  troubled  me.  I  was  almost 
afraid  that  some  judgment  would  come  upon  us 
for  it,  and  so  I  told  the  hunters.  They,  however, 
laughed  at  me  and  kept  on. 

"  Well,  one  day,  as  our  oxen  toiled  over  a  wide 
prairie,  browsing  as  they  went,  I  observed,  far 
away  to  the  north  and  west,  a  dingy  look  in  the 
sky,  which  rapidly  increased.  Any  one  accus- 
tomed to  prairie  life  will  recognize  a  smoke  twelve 
or  fifteen  miles  away,  or  farther,  if  the  wind  sets 
toward  him,  and  he  will  make  his  arrangements 
accordingly.     But  most  of  the  hunters  out  that 


y  Google 


204  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

day  had  no  experience  of  this  sort,  and  I  doubted 
whether  they  would  notice  the  signs  until  it  was 
too  late  to  help  themselves,  for  they  had  gone  off 
in  squads,  east,  west,  and  north,  and  a  few  had  even 
made  a  detour  to  the  south  to  get  the  wind  of  a 
herd  of  antelopes  in  that  direction.  I  was  greatly 
concerned  on  their  account,  for  I  foresaw  we  should 
soon  need  their  help,  and  that  they  would  need 
ours ;  yet  we  had  no  means  of  signalling  them  be- 
yond the  hearing  of  our  guns,  or  at  most  beyond 
the  sight  of  a  flag,  which  we  sometimes  hoisted  on 
a  fifteen-foot  pole  'stepped^  on  the  lead  wagon. 
There  was  no  time  to  be  lost  in  getting  the  train 
into  a  place  of  safety.  I  do  not  mean  safety  from 
the  fire, — that  was  easy  enough,  for  we  had  only 
to  burn  the  grass  to  the  windward,  and  drive  upon 
the  ground, — but  safety  from  the  buffaloes  that 
would  come  rushing  upon  us  in  countless  thousands 
ahead  of  the  fire,  and  against  which  it  is  some- 
times impossible  to  erect  a  barrier,  especially  if 
anything  should  put  them  upon  a  stampede.  The 
prairie  was  wide  enough  to  allow  a  hundred  times 
as  many  to  pass  us,  if  they  would,  but  unfor- 
tunately we  were  in  the  pass-way  between  one 
feeding-ground  and  another,  across  a  long  and  deep 
canyon,*  which  the  buffaloes  could  approach  only 

*  A  canyon  is  a  precipitous,  tunnel-like  passage  for  water, 
common  in  the  Mexican  and  Texas  prairies,  and  sometimes 
hundreds  of  feet  deep. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  205 

at  that  point,  and  where  they  would,  almost  of  ne- 
cessity, crowd  and  excite  one  another. 

"  There  was  a  Butte,  or  sharp,  lonely  hill,  about 
six  miles  ahead  of  us,  and  I  knew  that  if  we  could 
reach  it  in  time  we  should  be  safe,  both  from  fire 
and  buffaloes.  Every  teamster  was  therefore  or- 
dered to  push  his  team  to  the  extent  of  their  speed, 
consistent  with  our  keeping  together,  and  I  thought, 
for  a  time,  we  should  accomplish  our  purpose,  but 
when  we  came  to  rising  ground  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  our  place  of  refuge,  we  saw  that  this 
was  hopeless.  Five  miles  away,  east,  west,  and 
north,  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  the  sky  was  black 
with  smoke,  and  the  earth  red  with  fire.  But  that 
which  we  had  to  dread  was  nearer  still :  a  long, 
broad  belt  of  buffaloes — how  long  we  could  not 
tell,  for  the  two  ends  were  out  of  sight,  and  how 
broad  we  could  not  tell,  for  they  did  not  stretch  in 
an  unbroken  line,  but  in  great  squads  of  a  wedge- 
like shape,  from  a  furlong  to  a  half  mile  or  more 
in  length,  each  squad  having  its  leaders  in  front, 
and  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  the 
herd  following  hard  after  them.  This  black,  ir- 
regular belt  of  buffaloes  was  moving  upon  us  at 
the  distance  of  not  two  miles,  and  beginning  to 
crowd  and  jostle  each  other  as  they  neared  the 
crossing  place  of  the  canyon,  miles  below  us. 
Even  while  we  were  looking  on,  they  got  into 
some  disorder,  then  into  more,  and  finally  into  a 


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206  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

stampede,  which  brought  them  towards  us  with 
the  rush  and  roar  of  a  hurricane. 

*'  We  had  not  a  minute — no,  not  a  second — to 
lose.  Giving  up  all  hope  of  reaching  the  Butte 
in  time,  I  ordered  ten  of  the  foremost  wagons  to 
be  halted  in  a  line,  end  to  end,  close  as  they  could 
be  jammed;  then  a  second  ten  to  be  halted  side  by 
side  with  them,  "  breaking  their  joints,''  as  car- 
penters and  masons  say,  or  covering  the  gaps  be- 
tween wagon  and  wagon ;  then  another  line  of 
wagons,  and  another  still,  until  there  was  a  bul- 
wark of  wagons,  four  in  depth  and  ten  in  length. 
And  as  fast  as  they  were  brought  into  position,  the 
teams  were  taken  out  and  placed  on  the  southern 
or  safe  side,  where  they  were  fastened  as  securely 
as  possible  in  the  very  little  time  left  us.  While 
the  teamsters  were  engaged  in  this  duty,  all  other 
hands  were  called  to  firing  the  gi*ass.  This  was  a 
difficult  and  perilous  work,  for  although  the  mes- 
quite  grass,  which  grows  only  about  a  foot  high, 
i^  easily  manageable,  the  prairie  grass,  in  the  midst 
of  which  we  were,  grows  as  high  as  a  man's  waist, 
and  it  was  as  much  as  we  could  do  to  burn  it  on 
the  outside  of  the  imperfectly  cleared  ring,  without 
at  the  same  time  firing  our  crowded  wagon  train. 
It  was  done,  however,  and  in  a  few  seconds  the  roar 
and  rumble  of  our  fire,  which  burned  against  the 
wind  with  a  high  flame  and  intense  heat,  was  as 
loud  as  that  of  the  blaze  coming  down  upon  us. 


y  Google 


MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  207 

"  For  a  while  there  was  reason  to  hope  that  our 
fire  would  compel  the  herd  to  divide  and  pass  us 
to  the  right  and  left,  but  whether  the  leaders  did 
not  regard  the  fire,  or  could  not  help  themselves, 
we  saw  them  leap  right  through  and  hold  their  head- 
long course,  until  they  saw  that  there  was  an  obstruc- 
tion before  them  which  they  could  not  surmount. 
Then  their  confusion  and  terror  became  intense. 
They  looked  wildly  around,  and  attempted  to  pass 
to  one  side  or  the  other,  but,  being  pushed  forward 
by  those  behind,  they  planted  themselves  to  with- 
stand the  pressure,  until  overpowered,  some  en- 
deavored to  break  through  the  gaps  between  the 
wagons,  but  became  entangled  and  were  shot  by 
our  men,  and  some,  over-ridden  by  the  others, 
were  trampled  and  smothered  to  death.  The  most 
dreadful  part  of  that  scene  was  at  the  line  where 
they  met  the  fire,  and  where  they  could  neither  go 
forward,  on  account  of  the  stoppage  in  front,  nor 
go  back  on  account  of  the  pressure  behind.  Poor 
wretches !  their  roar  of  pain,  as  the  fire  burned 
slowly  under  their  bodies,  and  passed  from  one  to 
another,  was  horrible,  mixed  as  it  was  with  the 
groans  and  gaspings  of  the  Smothered  ones  next 
the  wagon-train. 

"  At  one  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  number  crowd- 
ing and  pressing  against  us  would  be  such  as  to 
enable  those  behind  to  climb  over  them,  and  over 
our  rampart  of  wagons,  and  trample  us  to  death. 


y  Google 


208  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

Fortunately  for  us,  however,  the  herd  with  which 
we  had  to  contend  was  comparatively  small,  and 
our  wagons  were  so  closely  set  that,  although  some 
of  them  were  pushed  a  little  out  of  place  and 
jammed  against  the  line  next  to  them,  not  the 
first  bufialo  was  able  to  get  across.  The  only  se- 
rious accident  to  which  we  were  exposed  was  from 
the  fire.  In  spite  of  all  our  care,  a  little  flame 
had  straggled  off  from  the  rest  and  got  to  blazing 
under  our  wagon-train.  One  of  our  wagons  was 
actually  on  fire,  and  what  added  to  the  seriousness 
of  the  case  was  the  fact,  that,  while  the  buflaloes 
were  pressing  and  jamming  upon  us  in  their  great- 
est fury,  this  wagon  was  burning  Tiext  to  that  which 
contained  our  gunpowder.  For  a  while  it  seemed 
as  if  we  were  doomed  to  be  blown  to  atoms  if  we 
remained,  or  to  be  trampled  to  death  if  we  at- 
tempted to  escape. 

"  In  ten  minutes  or  less,  perhaps  in  five,  the 
whole  herd  had  passed.  I  do  not  know  how  long 
the  time  was,  measured  by  the  watch.  I  only 
know  that  no  ten  hcmra  of  my  life  seem  to  me  so 
long,  or  so  crowded  with  horrors  as  those  minutes. 
About  a  quarter  of  to  hour  after  they  had  passed 
the  fire  came,  but  we  were  by  this  time  well  pro- 
tected, for  the  fire  kindled  just  around  us  had 
spread  so  as  to  leave  us  untouched  by  that  which 
came  from  above.  And  now.  Doctor,  I  think  you 
will  agree  with  me,  that,  however  large  the  fire  on 


y  Google 


MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  209 

the  island  was  the  other  night,  and  however  much 
I  regretted  it,  it  was  only  a  circumstance  com- 
pared with  one  I  had  seen  on  the  prairies/' 

"  I  do  agree  with  you,"  Dr.  Gordon  replied  ; 
^^yet  let  me  ask  whether  in  all  that  horrible  melee 
of  fire  and  buffaloes  there  was  nobody  hurt?" 

"  Nobody  seriously,"  was  the  reply,  "  though 
there  were  some  very  narrow  escapes.  When  the 
cry  of  Fire !  at  the  ammunition-wagon  was  given, 
there  was  a  boy  so  badly  frightened  that  he  at- 
tempted to  run.  We  judge,  from  circumstances, 
that  he  had  no  eye  nor  thought  for  any  danger  ex- 
cept that  from  the  gunpowder,  for  he  was  seen  to 
run,  and  was  afterwards  picked  up,  breathless,  just 
inside  the  track  of  the  buffaloes ;  and  it  is  sup- 
posed that  one  of  these  beasts,  finding  him  in  his 
way,  took  him  on  his  horns  and  flung  him  back 
within  the  line." 

"  What  became  of  the  hunters  who  were  out  at 
the  time?"  Dr.  Gordon  inquired. 

"  They  had  a  pretty  rough  time  of  it,"  replied 

Wheeler.     "  One  of  them  must  have  perished,  for 

we  never  saw  or  heard  of  him  afterwards,  although 

we  remained  two  days  at  the  Butte  and  searched 

for  him  in  every  direction.   He  and  his  horse  must 

have  been  trampled  to  death.     Of  the  different 

squads  that  went  out,  the  only  one  that  came  in 

was  that  which  had  gone  west.     They  came  at  full 

speed,  with  their  horses  in  a  lather,  and  joined  us 
o 


y  Google 


210  MAROOXER'S  ISLAND. 

barely  in  time  to  save  themselves,  but  not  in  time 
to  help  us.  Another  party  made  for  the  Butte  and 
sheltered  themselves  behind  it  from  both  buffaloes 
and  fire ;  and  so  did  another  party  by  getting  down 
into  the  canyon.  But  the  squad  that  went  south 
perceived  no  sign  .of  danger  until  it  was  too  late 
to  return.  The  first  tiling  they  knew,  the  buffa- 
loes and  the  fire  were  upon  them,  and  they  had  to 
run  for  their  lives.  They  got  together,  all  but  one 
man,  and  made  for  a  high  rock  they  had  seen  in 
their  hunt,  and  thus  escaped.  The  missing  man, 
who  had  strayed  miles  away  from  his  companions 
in  following  a  bull,  saw  no  chance  for  life  but  to 
run  his  jaded  horse  ahead  of  the  buffaloes,  as  a 
sailor  scuds  before  a  storm  under  bare  poles.  He 
kept  ahead  of  them  mile  after  mile,  when  just  as 
his  horse^s  strength  was  failing,  he  saw  a  mass  of 
iron-rock  *  sticking  out  of  the  ground  like  a 
stump,  about  a  yard  in  diameter  and  two  yards 
high.  Behind  that  he  dismounted,  threw  his  lariat 
over  it,  drew  up  his  horse  as  near  it  as  possible  to 
leave  himself  room,  and  there  abode  his  fate. 
When  the  buffaloes  came  and  the  earth  began  to 
shake  under  their  tread,  his  horse  became  so  fran- 
tic with  the  noise,  and  struggled,  and  struck  at 
him  so  violently  with  his  hoofs,  that  after  hesitat- 
ing whether  to  risk  death  by  the  horse,  or  death 

*  These  singular  masses  are  said  to  be  meteoric.     One  of 
them  forms  quite  a  little  hill. 


y  Google 


MAROONEirS  ISLAND.  211 

by  being  left  afoot  on  the  prairie,  he  chose  the 
latter,  cut  the  lariat,  and  set  the  frightened  brute 
at  liberty.  It  was  well  he  did  so,  for  the  moment 
the  horse  was  free  he  recovered  his  senses,  crouched 
up  trembling  to  his  master,  and  there  kept  per- 
fectly quiet  until  the  herd  passed  by/' 

"  Do  not  these  terrible  fires  cause  great  destruc- 
tion of  life  among  the  poor  brute  creatures  inhab- 
iting the  prairies?''  Dr.  Gordon  asked. 

"  Of  course,  a  good  deal,''  replied  Wheeler,  "but, 
so  far  as  we  could  see,  not  so  much  as  you  might 
suppose.  You  know  that  most  of  the  small  crea- 
tures that  live  there  burrow  in  the  ground.  When 
a  fire  comes  they  have  only  to  go  into  their  holes, 
and  are  safe.  It  is  so  of  wolves,  foxes,  prairie- 
dogs  and  rabbits,  and  even  of  owls  and  snakes. 
All  the  larger  animals  seem  to  know,  as  well  as 
we  do,  that  their  safety  consists  in  being  on  the 
burnt  side  of  the  prairie,  and  I  have  seen  them, 
when  the  fire  came  near,  rush  right  through  the 
flames,  and  scamper  to  where  the  ground  is  cool. 
And  not  only  they,  but  even  the  grasshoppers, 
when  the  flame  is  not  too  high,  as  is  the  case  in 
the  low  grass,  which  they  prefer  to  inhabit,  will 
rise  in  the  air  and  pitch  over  the  flame  into  the 
burnt  ground  beyond." 


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CHAPTER  XIX. 

MARCHING  —  BAIN  —  AMB  USH  —  DETO  UB,  HIDING 
THE  TBAIL— CONCEALED  ENCAMPMENT  —  WILY 
SCOUT— IMPBO  VISED  ABM  OB—  WELL-AIMED  SHOT 

—  DANGEBOUS  PASSAGE  — BLOOD  ON  BOTH  SIDES 

—  CHINNOBEE. 

T  was  nearly  midday  when,  wind  and  tide 
both  failing,  the  ^company  landed  on  a 
smooth,  hard  beach,  convinced,  after  a 
long  and  laborious  tug,  that  the  raft 
must  be  abandoned  and  the  passage  home  attempted 
^by  land.  They  arrived  very  slowly  at  this  con- 
clusion, both  on  account  of  their  ignorance  of  the 
necessary  route,  and  of  what  they  had  reason  to 
believe  concerning  the  unsettled  state  of  the 
country. 

Far  as  the  eye  could  reach  along  the  coast,  the 
way  was  open  and  easy  upon  a  level  beach,  but  in 
the  dim  distance  was  a  blue  streak  in  the  horizon, 
a  little  off  shore,  indicative  of  one  or  more  islands; 
and  they  knew  that  in  such  cases  the  margin  of 
the  coast  was  apt  to  be  more  or  less  marshy  and 
broken  by  creeks,  if  not  by  rivers.     Yet  what  else 

212 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  213 

could  they  do  ?  It  was  useless  to  stay  where  they 
were,  and  it  was  possible  that  the  hostility  they 
had  experienced  was  confiixed  to  a  very  few,  —  at 
least  this  was  Tomkins'  opinion,  for  which  he 
could  give  no  better  reason  than  his  favorite  one 
that  he  "  felt  it  in  his  bones/' 

With  this  hope  they  prepared  themselves  for 
travel,  by  each  putting  up  five  days'  rations,  di- 
viding among  themselves  the  cooking  utensils,  and 
other  necessary  things,  and  concealing  in  a  large 
hollow  log  such  articles  as  were  too  valuable  to 
throw  away,  and  too  cumbrous  to  carry.  They 
then  broke  up  their  raft,  turned  its  parts  adrift,  to 
leave  as  few  signs  as  possible  for  the  prying  eyes 
of  the  savages,  and  then  took  up  their  line  of  march, 
Tomkins  in  the  lead,  Wheeler  in  the  rear,  and  Dr. 
Gordon  (by  compliment)  in  the  middle.  At  the 
same  time  a  scout  was  kept  one  or  two  hundred 
yards  in  advance,  with  orders  to  reconnoitre  every 
suspicious-looking  place  and  report  by  concerted 
signals  the  appearance  of  danger. 

Their  march,  during  the  afternoon,  was  accom- 
plished without  interruption ;  and,  about  sunset, 
having  reached  a  spot  upon  the  bluff  where  was  a 
semicircular  wall  of  sand  thrown  up  by  the  wind, 
encompassed  by  ground  free  from  all  coverts  within 
range  of  ordinary  rifle-shot,  they  determined  to 
complete  the  breastwork  thus  half  made  to  their 
hand  by  nature,  and  make  it  their  camping-place 


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214  MAROONER' S  ISLAND. 

for  the  night.  A  fallen  tree  in  the  edge  of  the 
forest  supplied  them  with  the  few  sticks  needed 
for  the  fire  they  kindled  under  the  bluff,  and  a 
thicket  of  palmettos  and  myrtles  furnished  the 
materials  for  a  shelter.  This  last  they  built  with 
care,  being  warned  by  Magruder's  never-failing 
token  that  rain  might  be  expected  that  night ;  and 
it  was  well  that  they  acted  upon  the  hint,  for  ere 
midnight  there  commenced  a  cold  drizzle,  which 
continued  far  into  the  next  day. 

The  discomfort  of  the  morning  was  more  than 
compensated  by  reflecting  that  the  cold  rain  would 
probably  keep  most  of  the  Indians  at  home,  that 
its  steady  fall  would  interpose  a  veil  between  them 
and  all  distant  observers,  and  that  the  dampness 
would  materially  interfere  with  the  use  of  the  flint 
and  steel  gun,  such  as  the  Indians  then  had.  En- 
couraging themselves,  therefore,  with  these  im- 
portant advantages  for  a  secret  march,  they  pushed 
forward  as  fast  and  far  as  possible  upon  their  un- 
comfortable way,  keeping  ready  for  defence  at  a 
moment's  warning. 

A  drizzling  rain  upon  our  coast  usually  ceases 
with  the  turn  of  the  day  or  of  the  tide ;  and  so 
they  found,  for  by  three  o'clock  the  sun  began  to 
make  itself  known  in  both  light  and  heat.  Their 
success  in  travel  so  far  had  been  very  cheering, 
and  several  expressed  the  hope  that  their  annoyers 
had  been  left  behind,  w^hen  the  scout  was  seen  to 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  215 

descend  hastily  from  the  bluff  and  wave  his  cap 
as  a  token  to  halt.  He  reported  three  armed  In- 
dians, apparently  in  ambush,  half  a  mile  ahead. 
He  said  that  he  had  discovered  them  by  means  of 
his  spy-glass,  from  behind  a  cover  of  bushes, 
where  he  himself  had  watched  them  unobserved ; 
that  he  had  attentively  regarded  their  motions  and 
was  confident  they  were  in  concealment  watching 
for  something  or  somebody  to  pass  the  beach. 

" How  lies  the  coast  beyond  them?"  Tomkins 
asked. 

"  So  far  as  I  could  see,  it  bends  sharply  to  the 
west  for  a  little  way,  then  trends  north  ward,''  re- 
plied the  scout. 

"  Then  We  will  give  our  expecting  friends  the 
go-by,"  said  the  Sergeant.  "  We  will  make  a  cir- 
cuit through  the  woods,  and  leave  them  where  they 
are,  to  watch  for  us  until  they  are  ready  to  go 
home." 

The  sluggish  tide  was  still  rising.  The  greater 
part  of  the  beach  was  so  firm  with  shell  and  sand 
as  scarcely  to  receive  an  imprint  of  their  feet,  and 
their  line  of  march  had  been  near  the  water's 
edge,  in  order  that  their  trail  might  be  soon  ob- 
literated by  the  coming  tide.  The  company  was 
now  marched  back  to  a  place  where  the  shell  ex- 
tended partly  up  the  bluff.  Here  they  left  the 
immediate  coast,  covering  with  sand  and  herbage 
their  tracks  from  the  water  to  the  top  of  the  bluff, 


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216  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

then  making  a  wide  detour  around  the  supposed 
ambush,  they  came  to  the  beach  at  a  place  beyond 
sight,  and  once  more  resumed  their  journey. 

When  the  sun  was  about  an  hour  high,  Tom- 
kins  ordered  a  halt,  preparatory  to  encampment. 
He  had  already  gone  ahead  and  looked  out  the 
ground.  It  was  a  thick  growth  of  oak  and  other 
saplings,  where  a  person  in  the  centre  was  invisi- 
ble to  any  one  without,  yet  was  of  such  narrow 
compass  as  to  be  easily  watched  by  a  single  senti- 
nel. He  did  not  allow  the  men  to  approach  this 
place  directly. 

"  I  have  a  mind,"  said  he,  "  to  try  a  turn  upon 
our  red-skin  brothers  that  may  bother  them  a  lit- 
tle. There  is  our  camping-place,"  he  continued, 
pointing  to  it  from  the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a 
mile,  "  but  if  they  come  upon  our  trail  to-night, 
we  will  make  them  believe  we  have  gone  farther." 

Halting  them  by  a  well-marked  tree,  he  detailed 
Simpson  to  conceal  himself  near  by  for  the  pur- 
'pose  of  seeing  whether  any  enemies  were  upon 
their  trail  before  dark,  and  Dr.  Gordon  remained 
with  him.  The  others  went  half  a  mile  farther, 
to  a  place  where  they  cooked  and  ate  their  supper. 
Wildcat  being  dispatched  by  a  circuit  with  the  ra- 
tions intended  for  Dr.  Gordon,  Simpson,  and  him- 
self. From  the  fire  there  made  the  men  dispersed, 
each  a  different  way,  then  re-assembled  at  the  ap- 
pointed tree,  and  thence  marched  in  single  file  to 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  217 

their  sleeping-place.  In  this  last  movement  each 
was  instructed  to  step  exactly  in  the  track  of  his 
file-leader,  as  Indians  do  upon  the  war-path,  and 
the  last  man  of  the  file,  skilled  in  such  work, 
walked  backwards  for  a  short  distance,  carefully- 
obliterating  all  signs  of  the  trail.  As  soon  as  they 
were  safely  lodged  within  the  little  grove  and  a 
sentinel  posted,  Tomkins  said, — 

"Men,  if  you  will  keep  perfectly  quiet,  you 
may  all  take  a  sound  sleep  to-night,  all  except  one 
for  keeping  guard,  and  unless  some  of  you  snore 
uncommon  loud,  I  think  Johnny  Redskin  will  be 
bothered  to  track  out  our  sleeping  place.'^ 

The  men  smiled  their  approval  of  his  device, 
and  being  weary  with  a  long  day's  march,  gave 
themselves  up  very  soon  to  the  comforts  of  their 
leafy  bivouac.  Of  course  no  fire  was  permitted, 
and  no  one  was  allowed  to  go  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  covert. 

The  peep  of  day,  next  morning,  saw  the  camp 
in  motion.  Nothing  had  disturbed  their  repose 
during  the  night,  not  even  the  prowling  of  a  pan- 
ther, nor  the  howling  of  a  wolf,  and  an  examina- 
tion by  Wheeler  and  Wildcat,  who  made  a  wide 
circuit  around  the  encampment  ms  soon  as  it  was 
light,  revealed  no  signs  of  a  moccasined  foot  in 
pursuit.  There  was  reason  to  hope  that  their 
oft-baffled  pursuers,  unless  urged  on  by  uncommon 
earnestness  of  purpose,  would  be  discouraged  from 


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218  MAROONFR'JS    ISLAND. 

further  attempts.  Provision  enough  for  the  day's 
necessities  were  cooked  at  the  morning  fire,  and  by 
the  time  the  sun  had  shed  his  full  beams  on  land 
and  water,  they  were  once  more  upon  their  way. 

About  ten  o'clock  that  morning,  however,  the 
scout  was  seen  again  to  wave  bis  cap,  and  on 
making  his  report  he  said  that  he  had  observed  a 
large  bunch  of  moss  hanging  rather  unnaturally 
from  a  tree  within  fair  gun-shot  of  the  beach,  and 
that,  after  a  time,  not  liking  its  looks,  he  had 
dropped  behind  a  hillock  of  sand  and  levelled 
his  gun  at  it,  as  if  about  to  shoot,  when  the  bush 
was  evidently  shaken  as  if  by  some  one  standing 
behind. 

On  this  report,  the  Sergeant  dispatched  Whee- 
ler and  Wildcat,  his  two  keenest  observers,  to  go 
with  the  scout  and  examine  the  spot  more  care- 
fully, being  supported  by  the  rest,  who  ensconced 
themselves  behind  the  ramparts  of  sand  and  lev- 
elled their  guns  ready  to  fire  upon  the  hidden 
enemy,  if  he  dared  to  show  himself.  The  recon- 
noiterers  returned,  confirming  the  report  of  the  scout, 
and  adding  that  behind  the  tree  on  which  the  moss 
hung,  as  if  placed  there  for  the  purpose  of  en- 
larging the  scree^  the  ground  had  beea  trampled, 
but  by  what  or  by  whom  they  could  not  conjec- 
ture, unless  it  had  been  by  some  one  who  had  worn 
a  pad  of  moss  tied  under  the  foot  to  hide  the  track, 
for  they  had  seen  what  answered  to  a  man's  tracks. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  219 

thus   disguised,  making   off  from   the  tree  in  a* 
straight  line  with  the  position  of  the  scout,  and 
leaving  small  fragments  of  moss  behind. 

"  More  trouble  ahead !  '^  Tomkins  muttered  as 
he  listened  to  this  report.  "  More  Indians  dogging 
our  trail." 

Before,  they  had  marched  with  due  circumspec- 
tion, but  after  this  their  watchfulness  was  re- 
doubled. There  was  not  a  bush,  nor  hillock,  much 
less  a  thicket,  within  gun-shot  of  the  beach,  capa- 
ble of  concealing  a  foe,  that  was  not  examined 
before  passing.  All  observed,  too,  that  Simpson's 
mode  of  adjusting  his  load  was  such  as  both  to 
conceal  his  face  and  to  act  as  armor  to  defend  his 
vital  parts.  A  bag  of  biscuits  was  balanced  on 
his  right  shoulder  and  kept  raised  as  high  as  his 
cap,  while  a  broad-bladed  hatchet  was  stuck  under 
his  vest,  on  a  line  with  his  lungs  and  heart ;  and 
a  camp-kettle  that  he  volunteered  to  carry  for  one 
of  the  men,  was  hung  on  his  left  arm,  so  as  to  pro- 
tect his  hip  and  the  greater  part  of  his  side. 

After  travelling  thus  for  about  an  hour,  they 
came  to  a  point  of  woods  so  thickly  grown  up  with 
palmettos  and  other  low  shrubs  that  examination  • 
was  perilous  as  well  as  hopeless.  They,  therefore, 
moved  by  with  all  possible  celerity;  but  while 
doing  so,  there  was  heard  the  sharp  crack  of  a 
rifle,  Simpson  staggered  and  fell  at  the  water's 
edge,  and  there  came  from  amidst  the  palmettos  a 


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220  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

yell  of  triumph  from  at  least  three  voices,  which, 
however,  were  so  broken  into  short  shrill  notes  as 
to  sound  more  like  the  yells  of  an  hundred.  Tom- 
kins  instantly  ordered  a  charge,  and  heading  the 
men,  who  dropped  everything  except  their  arms, 
they  rushed  up  the  bluff  and  into  the  thicket. 
Nobody,  however,  was  to  be  seen,  not  even  the 
sign  of  a  footprint,  although  they  went  to  the  very 
spot  from  which  the  smoke  and  the  yells  seemed 
to  have  proceeded.  Such,  however,  was  the  size 
and  impenetrableness  of  the  thicket — capable  of 
concealing  a  thousand  men  in  ambush — that  Tom- 
kins  deemed  it  prudent  to  withdraw  his  little  force 
to  the  beach,  from  which  he  dispatched  two  of 
them  to  a  point  where  they  could  command  the 
ground  without  being  themselves  exposed  to  dan- 
ger. They  watched  a  few  moments,  and  saw  in 
the  distant  underbrush  a  movement  which  satisfied 
them  that  the  foe  had  retired.  To  the  surprise  of 
every  one,  Simpson,  who  they  supposed  had  &llen 
dead,  rejoined  them  on  their  return  from  the 
charge,  and  said,  with  a  ghastly  attempt  at  mer- 
riment,— 

"  I  thought  them  red  varmints  bad  got  me  this 
time.  But,  unless  they  have  better  luck,  I  hope 
to  die  in  my  bed  yet." 

"Simpson,"  said  Tomkins  earnestly,  *^what 
have  you  been  doing  to  these  Indians?  They 
are  after  you,  not  afl«r  us." 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  221 

"  Not  a  thing/'  answered  Simpson.  "  I  never 
harmed  a  har  o'  their  heads,  so  far  as  I  knows,  in 
all  my  born  days.  But  see,  all  o'  you,  what  a  dead 
aim  they  tuck  at  me/' 

He  showed  a  bullet-hole  through  his  coat  in 
deadly  range  with  his  heart,  and  a  bullet  battered 
to  the  shape  of  a  thin  biscuit  against  the  hatchet, 
which  he  had  worn  flat  against  his  side. 

"  The  ball  hit  me  so  hard,"  he  continued,  "  that 
it  knocked  the  breath  clean  out  of  my  body,  and 
I  was  sure  for  a  while  that  I  had  got  my  ticket  to 
t  'other  country.'' 

Tomkins  mused  a  moment,  then  walking  aside 
with  Dr.  Gordon,  said  in  an  undertone :  "  They 
singled  him  out  the  other  night,  when  he  was  less 
in  their  way  than  any  one  else ;  and,  to-day,  when 
there  were  three  of  them  in  the  bush,  and  they 
might  just  as  easily  have  picked  off  three  of  us 
as  one,  there  was  only  one  gun  fired,  and  they  sin- 
gled him  out  again.  Simpson  lies.  He  has  done 
the  Indians  out  there  a  wrong,  somehow,  and  now 
he  is  going  to  get  his  pay.  Take  my  word  for  it, 
he  is  a  dead  man,  and  he  knows  it." 

They  resumed  their  march,  and  proceeded  with- 
out interruption  for  several  hours,  when  they 
reached  a  marshy  bottom,  which  they  were  com- 
pelled either  to  head,  by  going  far  into  the  inte- 
rior, or  to  cross  at  a  particular  place.  There  a  log 
lay  across  the  narrow  channel,  now  nearly  filled 


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222  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

with  tide-water,  and  a  blind  trail  led  to  it  and 
beyond  through  a  wilderness  of  mangroves,  while 
on  the  other  side  a  level  strip  of  hard  sand,  lead- 
ing to  the  beach,  lay  between  the  mangrove  marsh 
and  the  dry  land,  which  was  covered  with  trees 
and  shrubs.  Such  places  are  always  dangerous  to 
those  who  are  liable  to  attack.  The  leaders  of  the 
company  eyed  it  for  some  time  and  deliberated 
gravely  before  they  ventured  to  cross. 

But  perilous  as  the  passage  promised  to  be,  and 
unpleasant  too  by  reason  of  the  mud,  they  resolved 
to  attempt  it.  It  was  after  most  of  the  men  had 
worked  their  way  through,  and  were  luxuriating 
in  the  privilege  of  walking  upon  firm  sand,  and 
Tomkins  was  lending  his  assistance  to  Dr.  Gordon 
through  the  most  miry  part  of  the  pass,  that  three 
rifles  were  discharged  in  quick  succession  from  the 
edge  of  the  woods.  All  looked  around  to  ascer- 
tain what  damage  had  been  done,  when  poor  Simp- 
son was  seen  to  sink  like  a  bag  of  sand  upon  the 
earth.  The  three  men  nearest  the  enemy  dropped 
their  loads,  and  without  waiting  for  orders,  rushed 
forward  to  the  charge,  and  fired  their  muskets  in 
the  direction  from  which  the  shots  had  come.  This 
was  followed  by  a  commotion  in  the  bushes. 
The  heads  of  two  or  three  Indians  were  seen 
moving  toward  the  same  point,  and  then  there 
was  a  disturbance  of  the  undergrowth,  as  if  they 
were  engaged  in  bearing  off  a  wounded  person. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  223 

The  whole  company,  with  Dr.  Gordon  among 
them,  now  pushed  forward  to  support  their  ad- 
vance, who  were  stopping  to  reload,  and  came  to 
the  ground  supposed  to  be  occupied  by  the  enemy. 
But  on  reaching  it  they  had  again  disappeared. 
Nothing  human  was  visible.  No  sound  of  foot- 
steps was  heard  among  the  palmettos  or  in  the 
open  ground  beyond.  Not  a  twig  snapped,  nor 
leaf  rustled.  To  all  appearance,  the  assailants 
had,  by  some  magical  power,  sunk  into  the  earth. 

But  Tomkins  and  Wheeler,  versed  in  Indian 
warfare,  were  not  to  be  thus  eluded.  They  fol- 
lowed a  scarcely  discernible  trail,  marked  in  one 
place  by  a  crushed  leaf,  in  another  by  a  newly 
broken  twig,  and  in  another  by  a  spear  of  grass, 
bent  beneath  a  softly  shod  foot,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  one  of  them  exclaimed, — 

"Here  is  blood!'' 

This  they  followed,  tracing  it,  drop  by  drop, 
until  they  reached  a  place  where  they  saw  an  el- 
derly Indian  crouched  behind  a  thickly  leaved 
vine,  and  appearing  to  be  severely  wounded.  One 
of  the  men  drew  his  gun  to  his  shoulder,  and  was 
in  the  act  of  pulling  trigger  when  Dr.  Gordon 
struck  up  the  piece,  with  the  command,  "No  firing 
on  a  prisoner ! ''  and  caused  its  contents  to  be  dis- 
charged into  the  air. 

The  Indian,  who  had  raised  himself  on  his  el- 
bow, and  was  handling  his  gun  with  the  show  of 


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224  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

fight,  although  the  piece  was  empty,  uttered  a 
grunt  of  surprise,  looked  approvingly  at  Dr.  Gor- 
don, and  dropped  his  gun  beside  him  in  token  that 
the  fight  was  over. 

"  Why  do  you  shoot  at  us?''  Dr.  Gordon  earn- 
estly inquired. 

The  Indian  looked  fiercely  around  and  answered, 
"Bad  man." 

**  But  we  have  done  you  no  harm,  and  wish  you 
none,''  Dr.  Gordon  remonstrated. 

The  Indian  looked  him  full  in  the  eye,  as  if  to 
gather  from  his  looks  what  he  could  gain  only  in 
part  from  his  language,  and  pointing  to  the  beach, 
said  with  emphasis,  "  Bad  man  there.  Bad  man 
kill." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  intended  to  kill 
only  him?"  Dr.  Gordon  inquired. 

"  Kill  Aim,"  the  other  responded  in  a  tone  of 
assent. 

"  But  why  ?  What  has  my  man  done  that  you 
should  kill  him?" 

The  eye  of  the  Indian  flashed  with  a  fierce 
glare,  and  he  replied  in  his  own  language,  of  which 
Dr.  Gordon  could  understand  nothing  except  the 
words,  "  Holly-woggus-chay,"  (bad — very  mean,) 
uttered  with  scorn  as  he  pointed  down  the  bluff. 
Tomkins,  however,  who  had  returned  from  look- 
ing after  his  own  wounded  man  in  time  to  hear 
what  was  last  said,  remarked  — 


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MAROOXER'S  ISLAND.  225 

"I  knew  it  was  so.  These  men  were  after 
Simpson,  not  after  us.  He  has  done  this  old  man 
and  lus  family  a  wrong,  for  which  they  were  bound 
by  Indian  law  to  kill  him.  I  don 't  blame  them 
atall.'^ 

On  hearing  this.  Dr.  Gordon  waited  no  longer, 
but,  learning  that  nothing  could  be  done  for  Simp- 
son, he  stooped  kindly  towards  the  Indian,  whose 
dignified  and  fearless  bearing  had  deeply  interested 
him,  and  said  in  gentle  tones, — 

"  I  am  sorry  you  are  hurt.  Can  I  help  you? 
I  am  a  doctor — a  medicine  man." 

The  old  man  pointed  to  his  thigh,  which  was 
bleeding  profusely  from  a  flesh  wound.  The  ball, 
as  Dr.  Gordon  ascertained  by  using  a  smooth,  nar- 
row pencil-case  as  a  probe,  had  passed  nearly 
through  the  leg,  and  lodged  within  an  inch  of  the 
other  side,  severing  one  or  two  small  blood  ves- 
sels in  its  passage. 

"  I  can  take  out  this  ball,  and  you  will  soon  get 
well.     Shall  I  doit?" 

On  this  being  repeated  by  Tomkins  in  the  Mus- 
cogee dialect,  the  Indian  nodded  and  uttered  the 
half-grunted  syllable  "N'Cah!"  in  assent. 

Dr.  Gordon  began  at  once  to  prepare  for  the 
operation,  while  Tomkins,  aft^r  the  exchange  of 
a  few  words  in  Indian,  went  in  the  direction  in- 
dicated by  the  old  man 's  finger,  and  shouted  in 
the  same  language,  — 

"So-masse«!  Moheta!  Come!  Chinnobee  call." 


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CHAPTER   XX, 

EXTUACTINO  A  BALL  FROM  A  WOUND  — NEWS  OF 
THE  MISSING  ONES— INDIAN  REVENGE— SIMPLE 
HAND-BARROW  FOR  CARRYING  A  WOUNDED  PER- 
SON— CONFESSION  OF  CRIME—  PREVALENCE  OF  A 
MO  THER'S  TEA  CHI  NO  —  MISER  A  BLE  END  OF  A  LA  W- 
LESS  LIFE, 

WO  fine-looking  young  men,  sons  of  the 
elder,  arose  from  their  concealment, 
withiti  half  gunshot  of  the  place,  and 
came  fearlessly  forward.  The  proposed 
operation  was  explained  to  them,  and  they  were 
asked  to  assist.  Not  a  word  was  exchanged  be- 
tween them  and  their  father,  only  a  look  of  in- 
quiry and  a  smile  of  approval,  when  they  knelt 
aifectionately,  one  on  each  side  of  him,  and  watched 
with  eager  interest  the  entrance  of  the  knife  and 
the  expulsion  of  the  ball.  The  only  instruments 
at  command  were  Dr.  Gordon's  pocket-knife,  and 
his  silver  pencil-case.  Of  course  the  incision 
through  the  skin  and  an  inch  into  the  flesh,  with 
so  dull  an  instrument,  must  have  been  painful,  but 
the  old   man   gave  no   indication  of  pain.     He 

226 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  227 

talked  with  his  sons  as  serenely  as  if  the  operation 
were  performing  on  some  one  else ;  and  when  it 
was  over,  and  the  wound  washed  with  water  and 
bound  up,  he  turned  to  Dr.  Gordon  with  a  look 
of  gratitude,  and  said,  — 

"  Enk-lis-chay  !  *  Chinnobee  will  not  forget." 
Dr.  Gordon  then  delivered  him  to  his  sons, 
with  2i  few  simple  instructions,  the  substance  of 
which  was  to  depend  mainly  on  cold  water  and 
cleanliness  until  the  ninth  or  tenth  day,  which  is 
the  usual  crisis  with  gun-shot  wounds.  The 
young  men,  as  well  as  their  father,  seemed  per- 
fectly to  understand  the  character  and  treatment 
of  such  wounds,  and  with  grateful  looks  expressed 
their  thanks  in  broken  English,  which  was  pleas- 
ant to  the  ear,  not  only  for  the  novelty  of  its  tones 
and  combinations,  but  as  a  token  that  the  toma- 
hawk was  buried,  although  Dr.  Gordon  could 
scarcely  maintain  his  gravity  when  one  of  the 
young  men,  wishing  to  express  his  sense  of  obli- 
gation in  a  more  civilized  way,  perpetrated  a  most 
awkward  bow,  and  accompanied  it  with  the  words, 
"  Welcome,  thankum  ?  " 

The  Doctor  then  proposed  to  visit  Simpson  in 
person,  and  suggested  that  while  he  was  gone 
Tomkins  should  inquire  of  these  new  acquaintances 
the  best  route  to  Tampa,  and  whether  they  could 
give  any  tidings  of  his  missing  ones. 

*  Good  I  very  good. 


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228  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

Tomkins  promised  to  do  as  he  was  desired,  but 
Dr.  Gordon  paosed  before  leaving,  and  asked  in 
an  undertone,  — 

"  Do  you  think  they  can  be  trusted  ?  You  will 
bear  in  mind  that  they  are  Indians,  and  that  the 
little  we  know  of  them  is  in  their  consummating  an 
act  of  deadly  revenge.'^ 

"  Trust  them  ? ''  echoed  Tomkins.  "  Yes,  cer- 
tainly. Chinnobee  is  a  chief,  not  very  high,  it  is 
true,  only  a  Tustanuggee;  still  he  is  a  man  of 
character,  and  he  and  his  sons  have  been  on  Simp- 
son's trail  for  nearly  three  years,  dogging  every 
step,  and  watching  their  chance  to  kill  him." 

"  And  you  give  this  as  your  reason  for  trusting 
them  ?  "  Dr.  Gordon  musingly  inquired. 

"  I  do,"  the  other  replied,  "  for  I  have  always 
observed  that  Indians  who  are  most  faithful  to 
avenge  a  wrong,  according  to  their  law,  are  also 
most  faithful  to  remember  a  favor." 

Dr.  Gordon  pondered  this  last  remark.  There 
was  a  deep  philosophy  in  it,  and  it  coincided  with 
his  own  observation  of  Indian  character.  Still  he 
hesitated  to  entrust  the  precious  interests  of  his 
children  to  the  partial  keeping  of  Indians  of  whom 
he  knew  so  little,  and  that  little  an  act  of  deadly 
feud.  But  would  it  not,  after  all,  be  best  to  in- 
quire of  them  ?  He  drew  a  long  breath,  then  said 
to  Tomkins,  "  Yes,  go  on  I "  and  went  to  look 
after  Simpson. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  229 

To  these  inquiries  Chinnobee  replied  that  he 
and  his  sons  knew  little  of  the  country,  being 
themselves  not  residents,  but  only  visitors  from 
the  Creek  nation  in  Alabama ;  that  there  was  an 
inland  route  to  Tampa,  which  they  might  travel 
with  safety,  since  most  of  the  hostile  Indians  lived 
farther  south,  and  the  minds  of  all  had  been  much 
mollified  by  the  news  of  a  proposed  council  at 
Payne^s  Landing;  still,  that  the  route  was  so 
greatly  interrupted  by  creeks  and  swamps  that  it 
would  be  much  more  easy  and  desirable  to  return 
by  water,  if  canoes  could  be  obtained.  He  said, 
too,  that  about  ten  days  previous  a  sail-boat,  con- 
taining several  persons,  had  been  seen  upon  the 
coast  near  an  island  which  the  Indians  never 
visited,  and  which  they  called  The  Island  of  the 
Gh^eat  Spirit,  but  whether  they  landed,  or  where 
they  went,  he  never  learned.  He  also  stated  that, 
two  days  after  the  recent  gale,  a  half-breed  Indian, 
answering  to  the  description  of  Riley,  had  been 
picked  up  in  a  marsh  near  that  island  so  nearly 
dead  from  cold  and  starvation  that  he  could  give 
no  account  of  himself ;  but  that  he  was  now  doing 
well.  Of  the  negro  man,  Sam,  he  had  heard 
nothing. 

On  being  asked  whether  canoes  could  be  ob- 
tained from  the  natives  in  the  neighborhood,  he 
replied  that  he  did  not  know,  for  the  people  there 
were  not  Creeks,  as  most  of  the  Seminoles  were, 


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230  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

but  a  colony  of  Choctaws,  with  whom  he  did  not 
feel  so  free,  but  that  he  would  cause  inquiry  to  be 
made,  and  report  the  result  two  days  from  that 
time. 

Dr.  Gordon,  returning  now  from  his  visit  to  the 
wounded  man  on  the  beach,  authorized  Tomkins 
to  say,  in  his  name,  that  he  was  ready  to  pay  any 
reasonable  price  for  canoes,  and  also  to  say  to 
Chinnobee  and  his  sons  that*  if  they  would  bring 
back  to  Tampa  his  children,  and  Riley,  and  Sam, 
he  would  give  them  his  hatful  of  silver  money. 

When  Tomkins  made  this  last  offer  the  old 
man's  eyes  glistened  with  pleasure,  but  he  raised 
himself  into  a  more  erect  posture,  and  said,  with 
an  air  of  dignity, — 

"Tell  the  medicine  man  that  his  words  are 
good,  and  no  doubt  his  money  is  bright.  Tell 
him,  that  Chinnobee  and  his  sons  will  do  all  they 
can  for  him,  but  that  they  can  take  no  money 
from  the  man  who  saved  Chinnobee's  life." 

In  making  their  preparations  to  depart,  the 
young  men  cut  two  light  stiff  poles,  capable  of 
bearing  a  man's  weight;  then  stretching  their 
father  on  his  blanket,  they  laid  these  poles  close 
by  him,  one  on  each  side,  and  fastening  it  securely 
to  them  at  full  length,  they  kept  both  blanket  and 
poles  distended  by  means  of  three  cross-bars  lashed 
firmly  to  them,  one  at  their  father's  feet,  another 
just  under  his  head,  and  a  third  over  his  stomach. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  231 

These  side  poles  projected  far  enough  beyond  his 
head  and  feet  to  be  used  as  handles,  which  the 
young  men  grasped,  and  raising  their  father  gently 
from  the  ground,  they  bore  him  off  with  ease, 
having  his  rifle  laid  beside  him  in  the  hand-barrow, 
and  their  own  tied  to  their  backs. 

When  Dr.  Gordon  made  his  first  visit  to  Simp- 
son, he  found  him  lying,  propped  against  a  tree, 
near  the  place  where  he  had  fallen,  with  three 
ball-holes  in  his  body,  each  of  which  was  mortal. 
He  was  writhing  in  great  pain,  and  asked  for 
nothing  but  water  and  a  speedy  death.  He  was 
80  plainly  beyond  the  reach  of  help  from  medicine 
or  surgery  that  Dr.  Gordon  ordered  simply  his 
removal  to  a  spot  beyond  the  reach  of  tide- water, 
where  he  might  pass,  without  disturbance,  the 
few  hours  that  remained  to  him.  On  his  second 
visit,  perceiving  that  he  had  recovered  from  the 
exhaustion  attending  removal,  and  casting  in  his 
mind  for  some  mode  of  relief,  he  concluded  to  try 
upon  him  the  effect  of  a  few  words  of  sympathy. 
Seldom  is  a  sufferer,  and  especially  one  conscious 
of  approaching  death,  insensible  to  kind  words. 
They  refresh  the  soul  as  cool  water  refreshes  the 
body.  Simpson  listened,  at  first  impatiently,  and 
without  reply,  as  was  to  be  expected  from  one  of 
his  dark  and  ungenial  spirit;  but  soothed  by  the 
gentle  tones  of  a  person  whom  he  believed  in  his 
heart  to  be  a  good  man,  he  finally  said : 


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232  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"  Captain,  I  want  to  make  a  clean  breast  of  it 
afore  I  die.  All  the  trouble  that  has  come  on  you 
and  the  rest  by  them  Injins,  is  on  my  account. 
They  didnt  mean  nothing  agin  you ;  it  was  all 
agin  me.  When  I  was  detailed  at  Tampa  to  come 
with  you,  I  would  have  got  off  if  I  could,  for  I 
knowed  them'ar  fellow  had  been  hanging  about 
the  neighborhood  for  a  long  time,  watching  a 
chance  to  kill  me.  The  moment  we  met  them  in 
their  canoes  at  sea,  on  that  deer  hunt,  I  knowed 
ther  was  gwine  to  be  trouble.^' 

Here  he  writhed  again,  suffering  apparently  as 
much  in  mind  aa  in  body.  Dr.  Gordon  asked  no 
questions,  preferring  to  let  him  confess  just  so 
much  as  he  pleased  in  his  own  time  and  way. 

"  I  know  who  they  were  that  shot  me,  the  same  if 
I  seed  their  faces  when  they  fired,  "  said  Simpson. 
"Old  Chinnobee  is  as  good  a  man  as  a  Coosa  ever 
gits  to  be.  I  haven't  a  word  to  say  agin  him  or 
his  sons  for  doing  what  they  did.  By  Injin  law 
they  were  bound  to  kill  me,  if  they  could.  It  was 
in  hopes  to  keep  out  of  ther  way  that  I  enlisted  in 
the  army,  after  losing  my  property;  but  this  only 
tied  me  hand  and  foot,  and  throwed  me  in  ther 
way." 

Pausing  awhile,  as  if  in  deep  reflection,  he 
uttered  a  groan  of  pain  and  continued :  "  I  ought  n't 
to  a-done  what  I  did.  I  married  the  old  man's 
daughter,  and  she  made  me  a  good  wife,  but  I  left 


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MAROONER' S  ISLAND.  233 

her  and  tuck  up  with  another  'oman.  She  grieved 
over  it  until  she  died,  so  I  am  told.  But  there 
was  something  worse  than  that.  The  old  man^s 
oldest  son  tjame  to  talk  with  me  about  my  leaving 
his  sister,  and  how  grieved  she  was,  and  I  got 
mad  and — I* — ,  yes,  I  killed  him.''  Here  his 
face  became  distorted,  and,  wringing  his  hands,  he 
said: 

"  Oh,  I  did  wrong,  sir ;  I  did  wrong.  He  was 
only  an  Injin,  and  a  Coosa,  but  he  was  a  good 
man.  He  saved  my  life  once  when  I  was  a-drown- 
ing.  I  acted  mean  to  kill  him.  If  it  was  to  do 
over  again  I  wouldn't  do  it.  I  wish  I  hadn't  a- 
done  it.  I  wish  the  old  man  could  forgive  me 
afore  I  die;  but  that  can't  be  —  an  Injin  never 
forgives." 

He  groaned  again  and  was  silent.  There  was 
very  little  in  what  he  said  that  had  even  a  leaning 
towards  religion,  (for  the  religious  sentiment  recog- 
nizes God  in  all  things,  and  he  had  not  recognized 
Him  at  all,)  but  it  was  so  much  nearer  an  approach 
than  he  had  ever  before  made,  that  Dr.  Gordon 
esteemed  it  a  favorable  time  for  leading  his  mind 
that  way,  as  far  as  he  would  consent  to  be  led. 
Indeed  he  indulged  a  little  hope  that,  though  the 
wretched  man  had  been  thoroughly  bred  in  heathen- 
ism by  his  mother,  yet  possibly  some  germs  of 
what  he  had  heard  from  his  father  might  now  be 
taking  effect,  and  that  he  might  even  wish  to  have 


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234  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

a  prayer  offered  for  himself.  For  the  purpose, 
therefore,  of  allowing  him  to  express  himself  on 
this  point,  the  Doctor  said  : 

"  My  poor  fellow  I  I  am  sincerely  sorfy  for  you, 
and  wish  I  could  do  something  for  your  help. 
You  will  not  forget,  I  presume,' that  there  is 
another  and  a  greater  One  whose  forgiveness  you 
need  even  more  than  the  Indian's.^' 

"Who  is  that?"  Simpson  hastily  inquired. 
"Do  you  mean  God  Almighty?  I  never  did 
Him  any  harm,  and  he  knows  it."  ^ 

"Never  did  Him  any  harm!"  Dr.  Gordon 
echoed  in  amazement.  "  Did  you  not  just  now 
confess  your  wrong  to  the  Indian?" 

"And  what  is  that  to  Him  ?  "  the  other  inquired 
almost  fiercely.     "  He  is  no  Injin." 

"  It  is  this  much,^'  replied  Dr.  Gordon,  exceed- 
ingly grieved  to  have  a  dispute  with  a  dying  man, 
yet  hoping  that  something  might  soften  and  set 
right  the  poor  fellow's  feeling,  "  this  much,  that 
the  Lord  is  the  heavenly  Father  of  every  person, 
of  every  color  and  condition,  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  like  a  father  He  regards  every  wrong 
done  to  one  of  His  children  as  wrong  done  to 
Himself." 

Simpson  almost  laughed  with  derision  as  he 
said,  "  O,  go  away.  Doctor!  Don't  try  to  scare  a 
dying  man  with  such  a  notion,  when  you  your- 
self know,  it  can't  be  true." 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  235 

Dr.  Gordon  could  scarcely  keep  the  tears  from 
his  eyes  on  hearing  these  almost  blasphemous 
words  from  one  in  his  condition.  Of  course  he 
could  say  nothing  more,  after  a  request  of  the 
kind,  coming  with  all  the  force  of  a  command. 
He  concluded  the  conference  with  saying : 

"  I  leave  you  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  who  has 
proclaimed  himself  ^  slow  to  anger,  abundant  in 
mercy,  and  ready  to  forgive.'  '^ 

To  this  Simpson  made  no  reply.  He  turned 
himself  upon  his  side  with  a  groan,  and  with  what 
sounded  like  a  half-uttered  curse,  but  against 
whom,  could  not  be  determined,  and  begged  some 
one  to  give  him  water.  His  friendly  visitor  saw 
that  nothing  more  from  him  in  the  shape  of  words 
would  be  of  any  avail,  and,  indeed,  nothing  either 
in  the  shape  of  bodily  comfort.  The  higher  and 
the  lower  natures  were  both  in  a  condition  equally 
desperate. 

All  that  any  one  could  do  was  to  save  him 
from  needless  discomfort.  A  bed  of  soft  elastic  moss 
had  already  been  provided.  Now,  a  close  tent  of 
palmetto  leaves  was  built  around  his  bed  to  pro- 
tect him  against  dew  or  possible  rain  in  the  night, 
and  one  of  the  company  was  detailed  to  stay  with 
him  as  nurse,  and  with  these  preparations  he  was 
left  to  meet  his  fate.  He  lingered  through  the 
night,  and  until  ten  o'clock  the  next  day,  sullenly 
refusing  to  converse  with  any  one.     Then,  with 


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23(3  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

tlio  oft-repeated  experience  of  dying  people  who 
are,  by  some  means  unknown  to  the  living,  made 
conscious  of  approacbing  death,  he  called  hastily 
for  Tomkins,  and  said  to  him  in  piteous  tones : 

"Tomkins,  don't  let  them  Coosas  sculp  me. 
I  know  they'll  do  it,  if  you  let  'em.  I'd  rather 
you  would  throw  me  into  the  river.  Don't  let 
'em  sculp  and  mangle  me — don't,  don't!" 

These  were  his  last  words.  He  died  like  an 
Indian.  The  wild  teachings  of  his  mother  had 
prevailed  over  those  of  his  father,  if  any  suqb  had 
l>een  given ;  illustrating  the  well-known  fact  that 
the  women  of  every  family  and  community  must 
lead  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  morality  and 
religion,  or  nothing  can  be  effected;  nay,  that 
when  the  mothers  and  sisters  mislead,  the  corrective 
efforts  by  the  other  sex  will  be  all  made  in  vain. 

The  last  request  of  the  dying  man  was  faithfully 
complied  with.  The  body  was  first  enveloped  in 
its  own  clothing,  so  as  to  protect  every  part  as 
perfectly  as  possible  from  the  encroachment  offish 
and  crabs;  then  it  was  encased  in  a  rude  substitute 
for  a  coffin,  the  best  they  could  devise  out  of  pal- 
metto leaves  and  bark;  the  whole  was  loaded 
with  sand  and  shells,  and  lowered  with  appropriate 
ceremonies  into  the  deepest  water  they  could  reach 
by  means  of  a  rudely  constructed  raft. 

The  duties  attendant  upon  his  death  and  burial 
afforded  melancholy,  but  perhaps  not  unsuitable 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  237 

employment  to  that  day  of  which  the  ardent  David 
sung:  "This  is  the  day  the  Lord  hath  made;  we 
will  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it."*  It  was  the  Sab- 
bath. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

SOMASSEE  AND  THE  CANOES— PRODUCING  FIRE 
WITHOUT  MATCHES  OR  TINDER-^  WILD  VEGE- 
TABLES—INDIAN MODE  OF  COOKING  AN  OPOSSUM 
--RETURN  TO   TAMPA— DR,  GORDONS  ILLNESS. 

HILE  the  company  were  enjoying  their 
Monday  morning's  meal  the  sentinel 
gave  the  signal  of  alarm.  Each  man 
sprang  to  his  musket  and  stood  ready  for 
duty ;  an  armed  Indian  had  appeared  through  a 
distant  glade.  The  spy-glass,  however,  quieted 
all  apprehension,  and  sent  each  man  back  to  the 
more  pleasant  occupation  which  he  had  left.  The 
Indian  who  approached  was  young  Somassee.  He 
had  come  according  to  the  promise  made  by  his 
father  two  days  before,  to  report  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  obtaining  canoes. 

He  said  that  several  good  ones,  capable  of  con- 
taining three  persons  each,  with  their  necessary 
luggage,  could  be  had  at  a  few  hours  distance  in 

♦Psalm  cvxiii :  24. 


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238  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

the  interior,  and  delivered,  if  desired,  that  same 
evening;  that  Chinnobee  sent  his  "welcome- 
thanks^'  to  the  "medicine  man,''  and  reported  his 
wound  to  be  doing  finely  ;  also  that  he,  Somassee, 
came,  by  his  father's  instruction,  to  say  that  he 
might  accompany  the  party  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Tampa,  on  condition  that  he  should  not  be  mo- 
lested for  the  killing  of  Simpson. 

Upon  this  last  point,  Dr.  Gordon  and  the  Ser- 
geant in  command  consulted  together.  Somassee's 
presence  on  the  voyage  would,  on  many  accounts, 
be  highly  desirable.  As  for  the  act  of  manslaughter, 
however  irregular  and  criminal  it  would  hav« 
been  if  committed  by  a  white  man  in  a  white  man's 
country,  it  was  a  very  different  thing,  in  a  legal 
point  of  view,  at  the  hands  of  an  Indian,  acting 
according  to  the  usages  of  his  people,  and  within 
the  boundary  recognized  as  theirs.  Dr.  Gordon 
recalled  the  fact,  also,  that  in  the  infancy  of  civili- 
zation, justice,  such  as  had  been  enacted  in  the 
case  of  Simpson,  was  required  by  the  Divine  law  at 
the  hand  of  the  nearest  kinsman  of  a  murdered 
man.  The  greatest  difficulty  on  Tomkins'  part, 
was  the  military  aspect  of  the  case,  for  he  said  the 
rule  is  that  "the  uniform  protects  the  soldier,"  and 
that,  although  he  had  not  a  word  to  say  against 
the  Indian's  obeying  ,the  laws  of  his  country,  he 
was  not  sure  but  that  his  military  superiors 
and  his  government  might  require  the  matter  to 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  239 

be  taken  up.  It  was,  therefore,  agreed  that  So- 
massee  should  go  with  them  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Tampa,  but  should  keep  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  military  authorities  for  fear  of  the  conse- 
quences : 

"  I  will  not  touch  him,"  said  Tomkins,  "until 
so  required  by  some  one  who  has  a  right  to  com- 
mand." 

As  for  the  canoes,  it  was  thought  that  at  least 
three  would  be  required,  and  that  it  would  be  best 
to  have  them  delivered  at  the  earliest  possible  mo- 
ment. With  these  instructions,  with  the  promise 
of  freedom  from  molestation,  and  with  all  the 
money  necessary  to  effect  the  purchase,  Somassee 
departed  on  his  errand. 

Scarcely  had  he  gone,  however,  before  Dr.  Gor- 
don's mind,  now  relieved  in  a  great  measure  from 
a  sense  of  responsibility  concerning  the  safe  return 
of  the  men  to  their  command,  reverted  with  na- 
tural earnestness  to  the  circumstances  of  his  chil- 
dren, began  to  question  whether  he  could  not  with 
all  propriety  deliver  the  men  to  the  command  of 
Tomkins  on  their  return  to  Tampa,  while  he, 
with  Somassee  to  assist  (and  why  not  Wildcat 
too  ?)  should  take  one  of  the  canoes  and  push  his 
exploration  farther  down  the  coast.  There  was 
only  one  difficulty  in  the  way :  ever  since  the  ar- 
resting of  their  journey  on  Saturday,  he  had  been 
conscious  of  the  coming  on  of  a  deep-seated  and 


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240  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

serious  illness,  and  ere  the  return  of  Somassee 
that  evening  with  the  boats,  the  symptoms  had 
been  so  far  developed  as  to  convince  him  that 
duty,  even  to  his  missing  children,  required  him 
to  seek,  as  soon  as  possible,  the  attention  of  some 
one  skilled  in  the  medical  art. 

While  preparing  for  their  intended  embarkation 
next  morning,  two  very  important  deficiencies 
were  discovered — one  in  the  supply  of  food,  and 
the  other  in  their  fire,  or  rather  in  the  means  of 
producing  it.  The  rations  were  not  actually  ex- 
hausted, but  they  were  so  scant  as  to  be  insufficient 
for  the  two  or  three  days  that  must  elapse  before: 
they  could  reach  Tampa.  Tomkins,  therefore, 
desired  Wheeler  and  Wildcat,  who  had  been  so 
successful  on  a  former  occasion,  to  prepare  for 
another  fire-hunt  that  night,  and  also  detailed 
Jones,  who  had  been  appointed  fishing-master  in 
the  early  part  of  the  expedition,  to  select  his  com- 
panion and  try  his  hand  upon  the  finny  tribes. 

The  latter  promptly  obeyed  orders,  and  departed 
with  Thompson,  the  Irishman,  whom  he  proposed 
to  initiate  into  the  mysteries  of  Florida  fishing. 
They  had  no  boat,  no  net,  no  bait,  and  but  one 
fishing-line  between  them,  yet,  in  the  course  of 
several  hours,  they  returned  loaded,  each  with  a 
string  of  fish  as  long  and  heavy  as  he  could  carry 
without  dragging ;  and  then  asked  permission  to 
go  out  after  brant  and  ducks,  which  they  reported 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  241 

to  be  SO  plentiful  in  places  that  it  was  scarcely 
possible  for  a  hat  to  fall,  on  the  larger  part  of 
an  acre,  without  covering  some  one  of  these  birds** 
Wheeler  and  Wildcat  were  compelled,  in  their 
preparations  for  the  night's  hunt,  to  perform  a 
feat  which  is  by  no  means  so  easy  as  most  people 
suppose,  and  that  was  to  originate  a  fire  on  a  damp 
day.  Their  la^t  match  had  been  used ;  all  their 
tinder,  too,  was  gone ;  and  the  rain  which  had  ex- 
tinguished their  fire,  and  which  continued  to  fall, 
had  so  thoroughly  soaked  everything  exposed  that, 
even  if  a  fire  were  of  iginated,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  nurse  it  into  a  blaze.  Woodsman  though  he 
was,  and  accustomed  to  all  the  crafts  of  a  wild  life, 
Wheeler  knew  that  the  task  would  be  difficult. 
He,  nevertheless,  went  manfully  to  work.  First, 
he  tried  to  ignite  a  dry  cotton  rag  by  using  it  as 
a  wad  over  a  small  charge  of  powder,  and  shoot- 
ing it  upward  from  his  gun ;  then  by  shooting  it 
downward  on  the  dry  floor  of  the  palmetto  tent ; 
then  by  enclosing  it  in  the  "  pan  "  of  his  flint  and 
steel  musket,  and  packing  it  all  round  with  a  good 
priming  of  gun  powder.  Failing  in  all  these,  he 
had  gone  to  a  hollow  tree,  and  obtained  from  the 
inside  some  dry,  tindery  wood,  which  he  was  en- 

*  The  seaboard  of  Florida  is  so  crowded  with  water-fowl 
in  the  winter-time,  that  this  report  of  Jones  was  not  much 
of  an  exaggeration. 

Q 


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242  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

gaged  in  trying  to  ignite  by  holding  it  at  the 
muzzle  of  his  gun  and  shooting  against  it  a  small 
charge  of  powder,  when  he  saw  Wildcat's  face 
writhing  with  the  signs  of  almost  insuppressible 
laughter.  Reminded,  instantly,  of  the  fact  that 
Indians  make  it  a  religious  duty  to  produce  new 
fire  every  year,  at  the  time  of  their  green-corn 
dances,  and  that  their  young  people  are  early 
trained  to  the  art,  he  turned  suddenly  to  his  young 
friend,  and  said  to  him,  with  an  appearance  of 
great  wrath, — 

"  You  piece  of  Ked-skin  fcuschief  ?  What  are 
you  laughing  at  ? '' 

"  I  no  laugh ! "  answered  Wildcat,  pretending 
to  be  as  much  alarmed  as  the  other  pretended  to 
be  angry. 

"Come  here,  then,  and  start  this  fire,''  said 
Wheeler ;  "  I  know  you  have  been  taught  how  to 
do  it." 

"  Got  no  fire-sticks,"  *  Wildcat  replied.  "  But 
Somassee  got  some.     Wait  till  he  come." 

*By  "fire-sticks"  we  are  to  understand  two  smaU  pieces 
of  wood,  (one  quite  bard  and  the  other  moderately  hard,) 
which  Indians  use  in  originating  new  fire.  These  are  of 
eeyeral  different  forms,  and  are  operated  in  different  ways. 
The  way  most  easily  described  is  that  in  which  the  fire-block 
(a  piece  of  walnut  six  inches  long  by  two  or  three  broad)  has 
a  slight  groove  hollowed  in  its  surface,  in  which  the  other 
stick  (a  piece  of  seasoned  hickory,  sharpened  at  one  end)  is 
rubbed  steadily  back  and  forth  until  the  friction  produces  a 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  243 

"  Do  you  know  of  no  way  to  start  a  fire  except 
by  sticks  ?  "  asked  Wheeler. 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  the  other  replied,  "  but  I  got 
no  string." 

"  What  kind  of  a  string  do  you  wish." 

"Twine  string,  pretty  good,"  Wildcat  an- 
swered. 

Wheeler  felt  in  his  pocket  and  produced  sev- 
eral pieces  of  tarred  twine,  which  as  sailing  master 
he  had  kept  about  him  for  the  purpose  of  repairing 
the  cordage  of  the  barge.  One  of  these  Wildcat 
selected,  and  making  its  end  fast  to  a  peg,  and 
giving  it  a  turn  around  a  small  dry  stick,  he  drew 
the  cord  moderately  tight  with  one  hand,  while 
with  the  other  he  moved  the  stick  rapidly  back 
and  forth.  The  friction  soon  cauised  both  stick 
and  string  to  smoke.  Then  a  spark  of  fire  ap- 
peared. This  was  enclosed  as  quickly  as  possible 
between  two  pieces  of  the  dry  decayed  wood  al- 
ready provided,  and  waved  between  the  hands  in 
a  long  swinging  motion  through  the  air,  until  it 
was  fanned  into  a  flame. 

spark.  The  other  mode  is  by  a  fire-block  with  a  little  hole 
gouged  in  its  centre,  where  a  stick,  the  size  of  a  man's  finger 
or  larger,  is  made  to  rub,  either  by  a  driU  bow,  or  by  being 
twirled  between  the  palms  of  the  hands,  (which  is  the  usual 
mode,)  until  the  spark  appears.  The  operation  requires 
great  skill,  and  there  are  few  white  persons  who  can  succeed 
except  after  long  and  patient  practice.  These  fire-sticks  are 
usually  carried  suspended  around  the  neck,  or  in  the  pouch, 
along  with  the  tinder  or  light  wood. 


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244  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

All  this  part  of  the  work  had  been  done  under 
the  shelter  of  the  tent ;  but  that  the  fire  should  be 
of  any  avail  it  was  necessary  that  it  should  be 
made  in  the  open  air,  which  was  filled  with  fine 
drizzling  rain.  Yet  the  ingenuity  of  the  two 
workers  obviated  even  this  difficulty.  Wheeler 
stretched  a  blanket  over  the  place  of  the  intended 
fire,  and  Wildcat  went  to  Magruder  and  said,  — 

"  Where  the  fry-pan  ?     Lend  me." 

Using  this  last  bottom  upward,  as  a  temporary 
hearth,  and  keeping  the  blanket  spread  above  un- 
til the  incipient  fire  was  strong  enough  to  defy  the 
falling  drops,  they  fed  their  little  blaze  first  with 
fine  dry  shavings,  then  with  splinters  a  little  lar- 
ger, and  partly  with  twigs  and  small  branches,  on 
the  well-known  rule  that  a  feeble  fire  will  be  fed 
with  small  wood,  while  it  will  be  killed  with  that 
which  is  large. 

When  Somassee  returned  with  the  canoes  and 
was  informed  of  the  shortness  of  supplies,  he  said 
that  he  too  would  go  out  on  the  fire  hunt  that 
night,  but  in  the  meantime  he  would  do  something 
else ;  provide  some  vegetables.  Asking  Magruder, 
the  cook,  to  accompany  him  with  a  basket  and  an 
axe,  he  returned  before  dark  with  three  kinds  of 
eilible  products.  One  of  these  was  the  cabbage 
palmetto,  which  though  called  cabbage  is  more  in 
shape, like  a  short  club,  a  foot  or  more  long,  the 
size  of  a  man^s  fist  at  one  end,  and  of  his  wrist  at 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  245 

the  other,  being  the  tender  terminal  bud  of  the 
tree  palmetto.  Another  was  the  tanyah,  a  turnip- 
looking  root,  growing  abundantly  in  wet  ground, 
and  highly  esteemed  as  a  table  luxury.  The 
third  was  what  none  but  an  Indian  could  eat, 
namely,  the  root  of  the  Smilax  (known  by  some  as 
the  chainy  briar,  and  by  others  as  the  bamboo,  of 
which  there  are  several  varieties),  somewhat  like 
an  immense  ground  artichoke  in  shape,  but  not  in 
tenderness.  When  young  and  tender,  it  is  boiled 
and  eg^ten  as  bread.  When  ripe  it  is  pounded  and 
its  starch  separated  from  it  by  water,  producing 
the  red  fiour  of  the  Seminoles,  as  the  coonta  or 
arrow-root  produces  their  white  flour. 

These  vegetables,  added  to  the  fish  already  ob- 
tained by  Jones  and  Thompson,  and  to  the  ducks 
and  trout  brought  in  afterwards,  would  have 
superseded  the  necessity  of  the  fire-hunt  that  night, 
had  not  the  minds  of  the  hunters  been  set  upon  it, 
as  a  matter  of  pleasure,  as  well  as  of  profit.  For 
they  went  as  proposed,  and  returned  about  ten 
o'clock  with  a  large  buck,  and  two  opossums. 
The  venison  was  committed  to  the  culinary  care 
of  Magruder,  assisted  by  others;  but  the  opossums 
Somassee  took  into  his  own  charge.  After  scald- 
ing off  the  hair,  and  cleansing,  he  introduced  each 
opossum  into  the  cavity  of  a  pumpkin,  of  which  he 
had  brought  several  in  the  canoes,  and  burying 
them  under  the  embers  of  a  large  fire,  allowed 


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246  MAROONER'S   ISLAND 

them  to  remain  there  until  pumpkin  and  Opossum 
were  cooked  together.  It  was  a  mode  of  preparing 
the  flesh  which  the  men  seemed  greatly  to  enjoy. 

These  labors  extended  far  into  the  night,  but 
being  necessary  preparation  for  their  voyage,  they 
were  thus  enabled  to  start  all  the  earlier  and  more 
joyously  the  next  morning. 

The  three  canoes  had  a  prosperous  voyage.  Late 
Thursday  afternoon,  November  11th,  the  company 
disembarked  at  Fort  Brooke,  after  a  prolonged 
absence  of  fifteen  days,  during  which  they  had  met 
with  the  loss  of  their  barge,  and  of  one  of  their 
men.  The  only  remuneration  Somassee  would  re- 
ceive for  his  trouble  was  one  of  the  canoes,  to  en- 
able him  to  return  to  his  father,  and  of  which 
possession  M^as  given  him  upon  the  beach  at  some 
distance  from'  the  Fort,  to  avoid  contact  with  the 
military  authorities.  Before  leaving,  he  agreed 
upon  a  certain  time  and  place  in  which  Wildcat 
should  meet  him  if  he  could  obtain  permission, 
and  unite  with  him  in  another  hunt  for  the  young 
marooners. 

Just  as  the  company  were  disembarking,  they 
saw  far  away  over  the  waters,  illumined  by  the 
declining  sun,  a  dim  speck  approaching  from  the 
mouth  of  the  bay.  This  was  a  boat,  manned  by 
two  fishermen  familiar  with  the  coast,  who  had 
been  dispatched  by  Major  Burke,  at  his  private 
expense,  to  obtain  tidings  of  the  barge's  company, 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  247 

for  whom  he  had  been  feeling  increasingly  anxious 
ever  since  the  gale  of  the  31st.  These  men  had 
gone  as  far  as  Charlotte  Harbor,  where  they  had 
received  an  account  of  the  killing  of  Simpson, 
which  had  been  exaggerated  into  a  bloody  fight 
between  some  United  States  troops  and  a  party  of 
Indians,  with  heavy  loss  on  both  sides.  This  story 
caused  them  to  stop  their  cruise  and  to  return 
home,  keeping  so  far  to  sea  as  to  be  almost  over- 
whelmed by  the  rough  water. 

By  the  time  the  company  landed.  Dr.  Grordon 
was  so  feeble  as  to  be  unable  to  walk  alone.  He 
was  supported  to  the  officers'  quarters  by  his  friends, 
the  Major,  and  the  Surgeon  of  the  post.  His  pale 
and  haggard  face  gave  such  unmistakable  evi- 
dence of  the  ravages  of  disease  that  the  Surgeon 
insisted  on  taking  him  immediately  in  charge,  and 
required  him  to  go  to  bed. 

"  I  do  not  see  how  I  can  possibly  spare  the  time 
to  be  sick,"  said  the  sufferer. 

"  And  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  possibly  avoid 
it,"  said  the  physician.  "  You  are,  no  doubt, 
practitioner  enough  to  know  that  diseases,  like 
weeds,  are  more  easily  managed  when  they  first 
appear  than  after  they  have  gained  strength.  You 
have  allowed  yours  too  much  the  start  already." 

Before  committing  himself  to  the  hands  of  the 
doctor,  he  called  for  his  cousin,  and  requested  him 
to  communicate  with  Mrs.  Gordon,  informing  her 


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248  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

of  his  present  inability  to  write,  but  saying  nothing 
of  the  accident  befalling  the  young  people,  and 
advising  her  to  remain  in  Charleston  until  she 
heard  from  him  again.  He  also  requested  that  a 
boat  might  be  hired  and  dispatched,  with  a  note 
to  some  reliable  person  at  Key  West,  oflfering  a 
large  reward  for  the  safe  and  speedy  delivery  of 
his  children,  and  of  the  persons  missing  in  his  ser- 
vice. At  the  same  time  he  took  pen  and  paper, 
and  in  few  words  stated  to  Mrs.  Gordon  that  he 
had  just  returned  unwell  from  a  cruise  down  the 
coast ;  that  the  Surgeon  had  forbidden  his  writing 
until  the  next  weekly  mail,  at  which  time  he  hoped 
to  communicate  more  fully ;  and  that,  for  the  pres- 
ent, he  had  requested  her  cousin,  Major  Burke,  to 
write  in  his  name  all  that  he  wished  to  say  about 
her  coming,  and  about  himself. 

With  these  instructions,  and  with  the  request 
also  that  a  messenger  might  be  dispatched  to  Bel- 
levue,  informing  his  servants  of  his  return,  and 
of  his  sickness,  and  calling  for  William,  his  body 
servant,  to  attend  him  as  nurse,  he  invited  the 
Surgeon  to  come  in,  and  said  to  him, — 

"Now,  Doctor,  I  commit  myself  into  your 
hands  and  the  Lord's,  asking  for  as  speedy  a  res- 
toration to  my  work  as  your  skill  and  his  blessing 
may  effect,  well  knowing  that  my  case  promises  to 
put  your  skill  to  the  test." 

Within  three  hours  he  was  wandering  in  the 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  249 

delirium  of  a  brain  fever.  His  unrestrained  utter- 
ances during  this  time  gave  evidence  of  two 
things, — the  depth  of  that  anguish  by  which  he 
had  been  tried,  and  the  secret  of  that  remarkable 
tranquillity  with  which  these  sufferings  had  been 
borne. 

The  next  morning  his  symptoms  so  far  abated 
that  he  complained  only  of  ah  intense  headache, 
and  Major  Burke  took  advantage  of  this  to  write 
to  Mrs.  Gordon  with  at  least  verbal  truth,  and  say 
that  her  husband  seemed  to  be  doing  well.  His 
letter,  written  over  and  over  again  until  several 
sheets  had  been  sacrificed  in  the  endeavor,  was  in 
the  following  words,  — 

"  Tampa  Bat,  Florida,  Noy.  12,  1830. 
" My  Dear  Cousin: 

**  Our  mails  are  so  few  and  far  between,  and  your  good 
husband  is  suffering  so  dreadfully  under  one  of  his  unusu- 
ally severe  headaches,  that,  rather  than  have  you  made  un- 
easy by  not  receiving  a  letter  by  the  present  mail,  — espe- 
cially as  the  preceding  one  was  probably  lost  in  a  freshet, — 
I  have  consented  to  act  as  his  amanuensis.  Indeed,  he  has 
a  touch  of  fever  to-day  —  not  enough  for  any  one  to  perceive 
but  our  Surgeon,  who,  however,  has  seen  fit  to  forbid  his 
writing,  lest  it  might  aggravate  the  symptoms. 

**I  suspect  that  this  sickness,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  has 
been  brought  on  partly  by  disquiet  of  mind  about  Sam,  the 
carpenter,  whom  he  had  sent  off  with  a  half-breed  Indian 
about  ten  days  or  a  fortnight  ago  to  a  neighboring  island, 
and  of  whom  nothing  has  since  been  heard.  Whether  some 
accident  has  befallen  them,  or  whether  Sam  has  concluded  to 
seek  his  freedom  among  the  Seminole  Indians,  as  many  others 
of  his  color  have  done,  we  can  only  conjecture.  The  Doctor 
feels  sure  that  something  wrong  has  happened,  for  he  says 


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250  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

that  Sam  was  yery  faithful  and  contented,  and  he  fears  that 
both  he  and  the  Indian  may  have  been  lost  in  the  recent  gale, 
as  the  boat  in  which  they  went  off  was  not  capable  of  stand- 
ing yery  rough  water.  The  Doctor  felt  so  uneasy  that  he 
himself  went  down  the  coast  to  explore,  and  it  is  from  this 
cruise  that  he  has  returned  unwell. 

**  Your  young  folks  are  a  charming  set,  especially  my  little 
cousin  Mary,  with  whom  (as  young  ladies  are  rather  scarce 
at  Tampa)  I  take  the  liberty  of  an  occasional  flirtation. 
Harold  Mcintosh,  your  nephew,  is  such  a  manly  fellow,  and 
Robert,  your  son,  so  intelligent,  and  little  Frank,  so  full  of 
his  harmless  fun,  that  they  made  themselyes  great  fayorites 
at  the  Fort,  both  with  officers  and  men.  I  haye  not  seen 
them,  nor  heard  from  them  for  some  days,  nor  haye  they 
made  me  more  than  one  real  yisit.  Dr.  Gordon's  place  being 
barely  in  sight,  oyer  the  water,  and  too  far  oflF  by  land  for  a 
morning  or  eyening  call ;  but  I  hope  to  see  them  again  in  a 
few  daySj  and  haye  no  doubt  they  will  enjoy  themselyes  with 
us.     They  were  in  the  best  of  health  when  I  last  heard. 

<*  Dr.  Gordon  requests  me  to  suggest  that,  as  the  house  is 
in  a  state  so  unfinished,  in  consequence  of  the  protraotml 
absence  of  Sam,  you  had  better  not  come  until  he  can  an« 
nounce  that  all  is  ready.  I  paid  him  a  yisit  soon  after  his 
coming,  and  find  that  he  keeps  an  excellent  bachelor's  hall. 
So  you  need  feel  no  uneasiness  about  his  being  comfortably 
cared  for.  I'll  answer  for  Judy's  housekeeping  qualities, 
or  rather  her  cookery,  for  during  my  yisit  the  housekeeper 
was  my  bright-faced  little  coz. 

*<  The  Doctor  is  haying  a  delightful  place  fitted  up  for  you, 
and  I  trust  soon  to  see  it  graced  by  your  own  cheerful 
presence. 

**  Very  truly  and  affectionately  your  cousin, 

"Walter  Burkb." 

*»P.  S.  —  The  Doctor  puts  in  a  word  more,  to  say,  kisses 
to  his  dear  little  Anna  and  Tommie,  and  he  hopes  to  send 
you  a  long  letter  by  next  mail.  ^    -n 

**  Mrs,  Anna  H.  Gordon,  Charleston,  S.  C." 


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CHAPTER  XXII. 

WILLIAM  AND  JUL  Y—  WILDCA  T  AND  SOMASSE^THE 
GOURD  AND  ITS  CONTENTS  —  COMPLIMENT  AND 
GOODWILL— PREPARATIONS  FOR  ANOTHER  TOUR 
^RETURNING  STRENGTH— PREPARING  TO  BURN 
A  HOUSE— SMELLING  OUT  A  FIRE— ALMOST  TOO 
LATE— PASSING  THROUGH  SMOKE— SLOW  BURN- 
ING  WITHOUT  AIR  — "POUR  ON  WATER!  FIRE! 
FIRE!"  —  ESCAPE  FROM  UPPER  WINDOW  —  ALL 
RIGHT  AT  BELLEVUE, 


ILLIAM  arrived  the  same  day,  accord- 
ing to  orders,  and  on  the  same  boat 
came  Judy.  As  soon  as  she  heard  of 
her  master's  illness,  she  packed  up  a  few 
articles  of  her  own,  and  such  also  of  his  as  she 
supposed  would  be  useful,  gave  directions  to  her 
obedient  husband,  Peter,  what  to  do  during  her 
al^sence,  and  when  William  came  to  the  boat,  he 
found  her  already  seated,  and  ready  for  departure. 
"  Wat  you  doin  yuh,  Judy?"  he  asked  in  re- 
monstrance.    But  Judy  answered  not  a  word. 

"  You  got  no  business  yuh,"  he  continued.  Still 
Judy  was  silent,  retaining  her  place  on  one  of  the 
thwarts,  with  her  elbow  on  her  knee,  and  her  hand 

251 


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252  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

half  covering  her  face,  and  looking  composedly 
down  upon  the  several  little  packages  beside  her. 

"He  nebber  sen'  fuh  you.  Yo'  name  ain't  in 
de  paper  at  all/'  William  persisted. 

"  But  I  gwine,  dough/'  answered  Judy,  as  com- 
posedly as  a  queen.  Then  with  sudden  energy 
she  argued :  "  You  tink  I  gwine  let  my  mossa  be 
sick  'mong  dem  stranger  folks ;  no  missis  dey  to 
nuss  him ;  no  chillun;  not  eben  Judy  to  wash  he 
clothes,  or  mek  he  gruel.  My  name  ent  in  de 
paper,  for  true,  but  I  tell  you  w'at,  William,  wen 
people  sick  you  men  can't  nuss  'em  liken  what 
us  women.  I  gwine  for  sure,  'cept  you  pitch  me 
out." 

And  go  she  did,  and  was  so  serviceable  by  her 
thoughtful  and  delicate  attentions,  that  the  Surgeon 
at  last  put  her  name  too  "  in  the  paper,"  as  she 
said,  or  at  least  told  her  to  remain  and  help  until 
her  own  master  ordered  her  back  to  Bellevue. 

This,  however,  did  not  take  place  for  nearly  a 
fortnight.  Despite  of  all  the  Surgeon  could  do, 
the  fever  returned  that  night  with  increased  vio- 
lence and  continued  with  little  abatement  far  into 
the  following  week,  when  after  a  refreshing  sleep, 
in  which  he  had  been  watched  over  most  carefully 
by  the  faithful  Judy,  he  awoke  with  his  mind  per- 
fectly clear,  and  from  that  mon^ent  began  slowly 
to  amend. 

In  the   meantime,  Wildcat,  whose  restlessness 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  253 

had  increased  as  Dr.  Gordon's  illness  advanced, 
applied  to  his  patron  and  employer  for  permission 
to  return  home,  promising  to  be  back  before  Dr. 
Gordon  should  need  his  services  for  another  trip, 
and  expressing  the  hope  that  ere  his  return  he 
might  be  able  to  obtain  more  satisfactory  tidings 
of  his  young  friends.  He  left  on  the  14th,  spent 
one  day  with  his  mother,  then  joined  Somassee  at 
a  time  and  place  agreed  upon,  and  by  the  27th  re- 
turned to  Tampa,  reporting  that  he  and  his  friend 
had  explored  the  coast  landward,  as  Dr.  Gordon 
and  the  barge's  company  had  explored  it  by  water ; 
that,  although  he  had  not  been  able  to  see  or  hear 
anything  of  tiie  young  marooners,  he  had  brought 
back  something  that  might  prove  to  be  a  sign  of 
them.  This  was  a  battered  gourd,  that  had  been 
thickly  coated  with  a  mixture  of  beeswax  and 
rosin  to  make  it  water-tight,  and  adorned  with  a 
tiny  flag  to  attract  attention,  and  contained  a 
writing  that  had  been  carefully  sealed  up  within. 
This  gourd,  with  its  contents,  had  been  picked  up 
on  the  beach  by  a  Mickasuky  Indian,  by  whom  it 
had  been  broken  open,  and  from  whom  it  had  been 
purchased  by  Wildcat,  at  the  cost  of  a  few  charges 
of  gunpowder. 

Most  eagerly  did  Dr.  Gordon  seize  upon  this 
little  paper,  and  most  powerfully  restorative  did 
its  contents  prove.  The  Surgeon  declared  that  it 
was  more  effectual  and  health-giving  than  all  the 


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264  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

medicines  in  his  possession.  It  was  nothing  less 
than  a  note  in  the  handwriting  of  his  son  Robert, 
and  though  part  of  it  was  lost,  and  the  remainder 
sadly  obliterated  by  salt  water,  it  gave  almost  all 
the  information  needed  for  hope  and  comfort.  Its 
legible  portions  were  as  follows, — 

"Saturday,  Nov.  6,  1830. 

Do  not  be  distressed.     *     *    island  next  the  sea. 

*  *     All  of  us  are  safe  and  well,  and     *     *     * 

*  *     *     *    Qur  boat  was  lost  in  the     *     *     * 

*  *     *     *    31st     *****    Sam     *     * 

*  *  *  arm  and  leg  broke  the  night  of  the  gale, 
but  is  now  doing  well.  *  *  *  next  week  be- 
gin on  our  canoe  in  which  to  return.     *    **     .^' 

On  the  outside,  the  address  was  only  legible 
in  part,  and  afforded,  after  much  deciphering,  the 
following  words, — 

"To  Dr.     *     *     *    don, 

"  Care  of  Major     ***** 

"  Whoever  delivers  ******  jii). 
erally  rewarded.'' 

Oh  what  a  relief  these  words  were  to  the  grief- 
worn  father !  True,  no  one  could  tell  how  greatly 
the  words  that  were  legible  might  have  been  al- 
tered from  their  apparent  meaning  by  the  inter- 
vening words  which  could  not  be  read ;  but  of 
several  things  there  could  be  no  doubt,  —  his  chil- 
dren and  Sam  were  alive  and  well  six  days  after 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  255 

the  gale.  It  was  almost  as  certain  that  they  were 
on  some  island,  where  they  had  lost  their  boat  in 
the  gale,  where  they  had  been  joined  by  Sam,  who 
had  met  with  a  serious,  though  not  fatal,  accident, 
and  where  they  intended  to  prepare  a  canoe  and 
attempt  their  return  by  water. 

With  this  cheering  intelligence  he  dispatched 
Judy  to  Bellevue  to  make  certain  preparations  for 
him  in  anticipation  of  his  speedily  going  off  on 
another  cruise,  and  also  sent  word  to  Somassee, 
who  lingered  in  the  neighborhood,  requesting  him 
to  be  ready  to  join  him  in  another  exploring  tour 
the  following  week. 

The  day  after  Wildcat's  return,  Dr.  Gordon  made 
his  first  appearance  in  the  open  air ;  atwhich  time, 
taking  a  comfortable  seat,  he  requested  permission 
to  see  the  crew  of  the  ill-fated  barge.  On  their  com- 
ing together,  he  expressed,  in  the  presence  of  their 
Commandant  and  others,  his  high  appreciation  of 
their  conduct  as  soldiers  while  acting  in  his  ser- 
vice, and  his  thanks  to  them  as  men  for  the  sym- 
pathy and  respect  they  had  uniformly  shown  him 
during  the  expedition;  and  he  concluded  by  de- 
livering to  Tomkins  a  little  bag  full  of  shining 
dollars,  which  he  begged  might  be  distributed 
among  the  men,  reserving  to  Tomkins  and  Wheeler 
a  somewhat  larger  share  in  proportion  to  their  en- 
larged responsibility. 

This  complimentary  language,  in  the  hearing 


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256  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

of  their  officers,  enhanced  by  his  act  of  liberality, 
soon  won  for  him  the  hearts  of  all  whom  he  ad- 
dressed, and,  through  them,  the  good  will  of  the 
soldiers  in  the  Fort.  After  they  had  retired,  he 
asked  permission  for  Wheeler  and  Wildcat  to  ac- 
company him  in  the  yet  unfinished  work  of  explo- 
ring the  coast,  and  on  its  being  granted,  he  fixed  a 
day  in  which  they,  with  Somassee,  should  meet 
him  at  Bellevue,  prepared  for  a  tour  of  indefinite 

extent. 

The  following  Monday  morning,  Wildcat  an- 
nounced a  message  from  Somassee,  that  by  the  time 
of  "  high  sun  "  next  day,  he  would  be  at  Bellevue, 
ready  for  service. 

Dr.  Gordon  called  for  his  physician  and  in- 
formed him  of  his  desire  to  set  out  immediately 
upon  his  expected  tour.  The  surgeon  shook  his 
head,  saying,  — 

"  Impossible,  sir,  impossible,  after  such  an  at- 
tack of  brain  fever,  to  go  to  work  so  soon.^' 

His  patient,  however,  conscious  of  a  rapid  re- 
turn of  health  and  strength,  resolved  that  he 
would  at  once  begin  his  preparations,  although  in 
deference  to  the  opinion  of  his  esteemed  adviser  he 
would  delay  his  departure  from  Fort  Brooke  until 
next  day.     That  delay  came  near  being  fatal. 

A  little  coal  of  fire  tightly  compressed  in  a 
handful  of  raw  cotton  can  be  kept  alive  for  hours;  * 

*  Our  Southern  negroes  sometimes  carry  in  this  way  their 
fire  for  smoking  in  the  cotton  fields. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  257 

and  if  closely  packed  in  dry  cotton  clothing,  it 
will  smoulder  perhaps  for  days  before  burning  its 
way  through,  and  bursting  into  flames.  The 
laundress  in  the  officers'  quarters  of  Fort  Brooke 
was  an  inveterate  smoker.  While  engaged  in  her 
work  that  day  an  unobserved  coal  had  been  jostled 
from  her  pipe  and  nicely  covered  between  two 
pieces  of  highly  inflammable  clothing.  The  pack- 
age, thus  unconsciously  prepared  for  future  danger, 
was  carried,  and,  notwithstanding  a  very  sus- 
picious smell,  was  carefully  laid  against  a  wooden 
wall  in  a  closet  almost  adjoining  Dr.  Gordon's 
room. 

Between  that  room  and  the  one  occupied  by 
Major  Burke,  was  a  small  apartment  appropriated 
to  Wildcat,  who  on  the  present  occasion  had  in- 
vited Wheeler  to  spend  the  night  with  him,  both 
having  already  obtained  leave  of  absence.  Away 
in  the  dead  of  night,  Wildcat  was  awakened  by  a 
sense  of  suflbcation  and  a  smell  of  nre.  He  roused 
his  companion,  and  they  went  immediately  to  the 
next  room  to  apprise  their  Commandant.  Major 
Burke  had  had  experience  enough  in  such  scenes 
to  know  that  the  more  perfectly  composed  and 
energetic  the  person  in  control  can  be,  the  better. 
Though  just  aroused  from  sleep,  his  directions 
were  few,  simple,  and  to  the  point.  They  were, 
to  raise  no  alarm  at  present,  in  order  to  avoid 
needless  confusion ;  to  have  certain  persons  come 
R 


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258  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

to  him,  each  with  a  bucket  of  water  and  some 
tumblers;*  and  for  Wheeler  and  Wildcat  to  ac- 
company him  in  a  farther  search  for  the  place  of 
the  fire. 

They  went  rapidly,  though  quietly,  along  the 
corridor,  guided  by  the  smell,  until  they  saw  a 
whitish  smoke  stealing  through  Dr.  Gordon's 
doorway.  They  knocked  lightly,  but  received  no 
reply ;  then  more  loudly ;  then  with  a  gentle  call 
to  the  sleepers  within.  Receiving  still  no  reply, 
the  Major  opened  the  door,  and  through  the  cloud 
of  thin,  though  suffocating  smoke,  they  saw  Dr. 
Gordon  upon  his  bed,  and  William,  his  servant, 
on  a  pallet,  each  sleeping  a  sleep  that  soon  would 
have  known  no  waking — the  noxious  vapors  that 
always  arise  from  a  smouldering  fire  or  from  burn- 
ing charcoal,  having  completely  filled  the  room. 

"Hold  your  breath,  or  at  least  breathe  as  little 
as  possible  the  vapors  of  the  room,"  said  the 
Major  to  his  companions.  "  We  must  go  in  and 
remove  them." 

William,  whose  face  was  fortunately  near  a 
crevice  that  allowed  the  coming  in  of  fresh  air,  was 
aroused  from  his  lethargy  by  the  act  of  handling. 

*  In  contending  with  fire,  it  is  usually  all-important  to 
economize  the  water  at  command.  For  this  purpose,  at  the 
beginning,  a  tumbler  is  very  useful,  as  it  projects  the  water, 
without  waste,  upon  any  particular  spot  selected.  Fire- 
buckets  are  made  tumbler-shaped. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  259 

He  opened  his  eyes,  saw  the  room  full  of  smoke, 
and  sprang  to  his  feet,  ready  to  assist,  though  feel- 
ing weak  and  confused.  Dr.  Gordon,  however, 
did  not  recover  consciousness  until  he  had  been 
some  time  in  the  open  air. 

Once  in  the  room  with  a  light,  it  was  manifest 
that  the  smoke  came  through  the  wall,  and  that 
the  place  of  the  fire  must  be  sought  beyond.  The 
next  room,  which  they  now  wished  to  examine, 
was  so  densely  filled  with  smoke  that  it  was  al- 
most dangerous  to  enter.  Major  Burke  and  his 
attendants  stood  at  the  door,  through  wliich  a 
great  volume  of  the  outer  air  rushed  in  the  mo- 
ment it  was  opened,  and  from  which  a  quantity 
of  the  smoke  surged  back  like  a  reflected  billow, 
but  no  fire  was  to  be  seen. 

"  I  can  go  in  there  now  and  find  where  the  fire 
is,"  said  Wheeler,  after  allowing  some  of  the 
smoke  to  be  exchanged  for  air. 

He  took  a  silk  handkerchief,  wet  it  in  one  of  the 
buckets,  which  had"  by  this  time  come,  tied  it 
closely  around  his  mouth  that  his  breath  might 
be  strained  of  the  smoke  in  case  of  need,  and  was 
preparing  to  enter,  when  he  took  a  long  string 
from  his  pocket,  fastened  one  end  around  his  wrist, 
and  gave  the  other  to  the  Major  to  hold,  saying, — 

"  It  is  possible  the  smoke  may  blind  me;  if  so, 
I  will  feel  my  way  out  by  this  string.'' 

He  drew  a  full  breath  and  pushed  his  way  to 


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260  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

the  opposite  wall,  which  he  felt  all  over  with  his 
hands,  but  discovering  no  unusual  heat,  returned 
to  the  door  for  another  breath.  On  entering  the 
second  time,  he  made  first  for  a  window,  the  sash 
of  which  he  raised,  and  remained  long  enough  to 
breathe  again,  when  he  passed  to  the  other  wall, 
ran  his  hand  rapidly  over  it,  and  returned  to  the 
door,  saying,  — 

"  I  have  found  it  at  last.     It  is  in  that  closet." 

The  door  of  the  closet  was  locked,  and  the  key 
was  in  the  pocket  of  the  laundress,  who  was  asleep 
in  a  distant  part  of  the  building.  The  Major  gave 
orders  that  it  should  be  forced;  before  doing 
which,  however,  he  paused  and  said,  — 

"  We  must  open  cautiously.  The  fire  is  smoul- 
dering now,  but  the  moment  air  is  admitted,  it  will 
burst  into  a  blaze.'' 

Wheeler  carefully  pried  it  open  with  an  axe, 
and  held  it  slightly  ajar,  saying  as  he  did  so,  ^'  I 
see  the  fire ;  now  bring  water." 

But,  as  he  uttered  these  words,  a  loaded  shelf, 
whose  supports  had  been  burned  away,  fell  with 
such  force  against  the  door  as  to  throw  it 'wide 
open,  and  instantly  the  whole  closet,  with  its  con- 
tents, was  in  a  blaze.  That  was  not  the  worst, 
but  the  fire,  having  already  burned  a  passway 
through  the  wooden  ceiling,  and  thus  communi- 
cating with  the  attic  above,  went  roaring  toward 
the  roof. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  261 

There  was  no  use  in  longer  trying  to  avoid 
public  alarm.  The  building  was  on  fire,  and  the 
only  possible  hope  of  saving  it  was  by  the  rapid 
and  energetic  union  of  all  the  forces  at  command. 
The  roll  of  the  drum  and  the  alarm  cries  soon 
aroused  the  whole  garrison. 

The  cry  of  Fire! — however  modulated  into 
music  by  the  magic  of  distance — has  always  a 
horrid  sound  when  near  at  hand.  It  is  then 
closely  akin  to  the  ever-horrid  cry  of  Murder! 
which  those  who  hear  once  can  never  forget. 
Either  is  sufficient  to  arouse  from  the  deepest  sleep 
all  within  its  hearing. 

The  rooms,  the  galleries,  the  corridors  of  the 
building  were  soon  alive  with  men,  among  whom 
were  some  women  and  children,  many  of  them  in 
their  night  clothes,  and  most  of  them  in  a  state  of 
interesting  undress ;  while  manly  voices  were  to  be 
heard  quieting  the  fears  of  the  over-timid,  and 
stimulating  the  efforts  of  all  to  remove  themselves 
and  their  effects  to  a  place  of  safety. 

It  is  in  the  highest  degree  encouraging  to  see 
what  almost  miracles  can  be  effected  by  coolness, 
(the  queen  of  virtues  in  time  of  danger,)  and  by  well- 
directed  efforts.  There  being  no  fire-engine  at 
command,  the  men  of  the  garrison  were  formed 
into  line  from  the  scene  of  fire  to  the  nearest  sup- 
ply of  water,  and  so  arranged  that  a  simple  swing 
of  the  arms  at  regular  intervals  was  sufficient  to 


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262  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

keep  both  lines  of  buckets  in  constant  motion,  to 
and  from  the  fire.  A  few  persons,  most  experi- 
enced in  the  art  of  fire-fighting,  were  stationed 
near  the  flames,  and  to  them  was  left  the  control 
of  the  water  conveyed  by  the  united  efforts  of  the 
rest.  They  were  so  successful  that,  in  a  very  short 
time  the  enemy,  that  seemed  at  first  like  a  maniac 
broke  loose  from  his  chains,  laughing  with  joy  at 
the  liberty  of  unbounded  destruction,  was  thor- 
oughly subdued. 

In  the  meantime,  several  acts  of  skill  and  cour- 
age were  performed  not  unworthy  of  notice. 
In  one  of  the  rooms  densely  filled  with  smoke,  a 
valuable  package  had  been  left.  The  owner,  un- 
willing to  lose  it,  yet  unable  without  suffocation  to 
walk  through  the  smoke,  crawled  on  his  hands  and 
knees,  recovered  the  prize,  and  returned  in  safety, 
saying  that  the  air  most  fit  for  respiration  in  a 
burning  room  is  always  next  the  floor.  In  another 
of  the  endangered  rooms,  two  little  children  had 
been  left  by  their  nurse  in  her  terror.  A  daring 
fellow  rushed  up  the  stairway,  snatched  the  help- 
less little  things  from  their  bed,  and  was  return- 
ing with  one  under  each  arm  when  he  saw  his  re- 
treat cut  of  by  the  progress  of  the  flames.  Going 
to  a  window,  he  threw  out  a  feather  bed,  and 
called  to  some  persons  below  to  hold  it  stretched 
directly  beneath  him,  when  he  dropped  into  it, 
first  one  child,  then,  after  its  removal,  the  other. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  263 

These  persons  called  to  him  to  save  himself  in  the 
same  manner,  promising  to  hold  the  bed  stiflBy 
enough  to  break  his  fall.  But  he  preferred  a 
more  independent  mode.  —  Quickly  tearing  sev- 
eral sheets  into  strips  of  suitable  strength,  and 
knotting  them  together,  he  formed  a  rope,  which 
he  made  fast  to  the  children's  crib,  drawn  near  the 
window,  and  by  this  means  slid  in  safety  to  the 
earth. 

The  next  morning  Dr.  Gordon,  with  his  servant, 
William,  departed  in  one  of  the  canoes  for  Bellevue, 
leaving  the  other  for  Wheeler  and  Wildcat,  who 
were  to  follow  at  a  later  hour.  On  approaching 
his  residence,  he  could  discern  by  various  indica- 
tions that  his  servants,  left  to  themselves  during 
his  protracted  absence,  had  been  neither  idle  nor 
faithless.  There  was  visible  from  a  distance  a 
small  lot  enclosed  by  rails  newly  split  and  put  up; 
also  a  quantity  of  new  palings,  rived  from  the 
heart  of  pine,  and  piled  together  in  square  pens 
to  dry  and  straighten,  and  a  large  black  smoke, 
attended  by  a  loud  and  incessant  crackling,  an- 
nounced from  afar  a  lime-kiln  of  burning  oyster- 
shells.  The  first  was  the  work  of  William,  the 
second  of  Peter,  and  the  last,  of  both  combined. 

Dr.  Gordon  was  rejoiced  to  see,  lying  at  his 
landing,  a  masted  boat.  This  had  come  in  answer 
to  an  advertisement  from  him  for  the  hire  of  such 
an  one  for  a  month.     She  was  all  that  he  could 


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264  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

desire^  being  complete  both  as  a  row-boat  and  a 
sailer,  having  a  false  keel  that  could  be  instantly 
raised  or  lowered,  and  a  mast  that  could  be  step- 
ped or  unstepped  at  will. 

By  "high  sun,"  or  noon,  Somassee  arrived,  ac- 
cording to  appointment,  and  toward  the  close  of 
the  day,  Wheeler  and  Wildcat  made  their  ap- 
pearance. Ere  they  lay  down  to  rest  that  night, 
everything  was  ready  for  departure  in  the  morning. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

SETTING  OUT  -^  JUD  Y^S  FARE  WELL  —  MANA  TEE 
BAY—  TAKING  PASSAGE— FRESH  WATER  SPRING 
IN  THE  OCEAN— NOVEL  CORN- MILL  — BUTTER 
SA  USAGES  —  WA TER  -  PROOF  MA TCH  -  BOX  —  SEA- 
SICKNESS,  AND  HOW  IT  WAS  MITIGATED— SUN 
DAY  SERVICE— SAILORS  AS  A  CLASS— PARTING 
COMPANY. 

ARLY  next  morning  the  faithful  Judy, 
with  her  "old  man,"  Peter,  stood  by 
the  waterside  holding  her  master  by  the 
hand,  while  the  masted  boat,  with  its 
four  oarsmen,  all  seated,  with  a  light  canoe  at- 
tached to  its  stern  by  a  cord  of  twisted  deerskin, 
was  ready  to  depart.  The  four  oarsmen  were 
Wheeler,  Somassee,  Wildcat,  and  William.  Both 
the  larger  and  the  smaller  craft  were  evidently 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  266 

supplied  for  a  cruise  of  several  weeks.  Judy's  last 
words  were, — 

"  Yes,  mossa,  ef  my  missis  git  yah  fore  you  do, 
I'll  hab  ebery  ting  ready  fuh  um,  and  I  won't  tell 
um  one  wud  'bout  de  chillun.  God  bless  my 
mossa!  and  my  missis  too,  and  dem  chillun  wuh 
(what's)  gone!" 

With  a  look  of  kindness  and  confidence,  Dr, 
Gordon  shook  her  hand,  and  Peter's,  then  passed 
into  the  boat,  where  he  took  his  seat  at  the  helm. 
The  fastening  was  cast  loose,  the  boat  shoved  off, 
the  sails  spread,  the  false  keel  dropped,  and  away 
they  scudded  over  the  bright  waters  of  the  Bay, 
with  Somassee's  canoe  dancing  merrily  on  the 
waves  behind.  It  was  five  weeks,  to  the  day,  and 
almost  to  the  hour,  since  the  greater  part  of  that 
same  company  sailed  from  that  spot  on  the  identi- 
cal errand  that  called  them  now. 

Blessed  with  fair  wind  and  pleasant  weather, 
they  soon  made  Riley's  island,  where  they  landed, 
and  Dr.  Gordon  went  to  see  Pancheta,  Riley's 
wife,  for  the  double  purpose  of  leaving  with  her 
some  stores,  and  of  giving  her  the  best  news  he 
could  about  her  missing  husband. 

Stopping  for  a  time  in  Manatee  Bay,  and  look- 
ing upon  its  crystal  waters,  enclosed  by  fine 
bluffs,  surmounted  by  a  noble  growth  of  oak  and 
pine  that  came  down  almost  to  the  water's  edge, 
Dr.  Gordon,  who  had  been  too  ill  in  mind,  as  well 


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266  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

as  in  body,  to  notice  it  on  his  passage  three  weeks 
before,  could  not  but  think  tjiat,  beautiful  as 
Tampa  is,  it  finds  its  more  than  equal  here. 
Manatee !  the  home  of  the  ponderous  sea  cow,  (or, 
as  the  Indians  call  it,  the  Big  Beaver,)  no  one  can 
forget  its  tranquil  beauty  that  looks  upon  it  once. 

Passing  rapidly  down  the  coast  without  stop- 
ping to  explore,  they  soon  reached  Gasparilla  Pass, 
off  which  they  spied  a  schooner  sailing  south, 
which  they  signaled,  and  ascertaining  that  she  was 
bound  coastwise  to  Charleston,  Dr.  Gordon  en- 
gaged a  passage  for  himself  and  crew,  boats  and 
all,  as  tar  as  Cape  Sable,  which  he  intended  to 
make  the  beginning  of  his  present  tour  of  explor- 
ation. 

During  this  voyage,  aboard  ship,  he  penned 
another  letter  to  Mrs.  Gordon,  informing  her  that 
in  a  recent  note  received  from  their  son  Robert, 
who,  with  his  cousin  Harold,  had  gone  on  a  ma- 
rooning expedition,  he  was  informed  that  they  had 
found  Sam,  the  carpenter,  etc.,  etc.,  and  that  he, 
Dr.  Gordon,  was  on  his  way  there  to  bring  them 
all  back.  Accustomed  as  he  had  ever  been  to  ex- 
press himself  with  candor,  and  especially  so  to  her, 
it  was  exceedingly  diificult  so  to  frame  his  lan- 
guage as  to  tell  the  truth  without  arousing  hei 
suspicions.  He  wrote  his  letter,  however,  and 
left  it  in  the  captain's  hands  for  mailing  immedi- 
ately on  his  arrival  at  the  city. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  267 

The  captain  was  quite  an  original  character,  of 
an  inventive  turn,  and  full  of  humor,  causing  the 
time  of  his  guests  to  pass  away  very  pleasantly. 
Dr.  Gordon  gained  from  him  several  new  ideas, 
interesting  in  their  way,  and  not  destitute  of 
importance. 

"  Off  the  coast  of  Florida,"  said  he,  "  is  a  great 
curiosity,  which  I  never  pass  without  looking  at 
with  interest.  It  is  a  spring  of  fresh  wat^r  in  the 
ocean.  How  large  it  is  I  have  never  been  able  to 
determine,  for  it  varies  at  different  times,  but  it 
shows  itself  on  the  surface  sometimes  for  the 
greater  part  of  a  mile.  I  suppose  it  is  the  outlet 
of  one  of  those  underground  rivers  for  which 
Florida  is  famous.  Fresh  water,  you  know,  seems 
to  dislike  mixing  with  the  salt.  You  may  see  it 
any  day  upon  the  coast,  floating  a  great  distance 
side  by  side  with  the  tide-water,  as  you  can  tell 
by  their  difference  of  color,  and  were  you  in  a 
boat,  lying  between  the  two,  you  might  dip  up  the 
fresh  on  one  side  and  the  salt  on  the  other. 
Moreover,  it  is  lighter  than  the  salt,  and  in  calm 
weather  it  will  spread  and  float  a  great  way  on  its 
surface.  The  spring  is  known  to  but  few,  even 
of  those  who  are  otherwise  familiar  with  the  coast 
but  it  was  pointed  out  to  me  many  years  since 
and  I  have  so  often  passed  over  it,  and  tasted  it, 
that  I  can  distinguish  it  now  at  a  great  distance 


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268  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

by  its  different  color,  and  by  its  peculiar  wave.* 
Last  year  a  curious  little  circumstance  happened 
in  connection  with  it  which  may  be  worth  telling. 
It  was  after  a  severe  and  long-continued  gale,  that 
I  was  hailed  at  that  very  spot  by  a  vessel  in  distress. 

"^  What  do  you  want?'  I  asked  through  my 
speaking-trumpet. 

"*  Water  to  drink,'  the  other  replied.  ^We 
lost  our  supply  in  the  gale.' 

"^Then  drop  your  buckets  alongside  and  drink 
your  fill,'  I  said. 

"  ^  Don't  mock  us,'  the  other  replied ;  *  we  are 
perishing.' 

"  *  I  am  not  mocking,'  I  answered.  ^  Do  as  I 
say,  and  you  will  have  more  water,  and  better, 
than  I  can  possibly  give  you.' 

"I  observed  several  buckets  go  pitching  over 
the  vessel's  side,  and  in  a  moment  the  men  were 
drinking  greedily. 

"^ Thank  you!  thank  you!  This  looks  like  a 
miracle ! '  came  from  the  other  vessel. 

*  The  above  account  is  no  fiction  of  the  author's.  It  is  the 
substance  of  a  statement  actually  made,  in  very  nearly  the 
circumstances  described,  by  the  gentlemanly  commander  of 
a  Revenue  Cutter,  who  was  as  well  posted  as  any  man  living 
in  the  geography  of  the  Florida  waters,  and  who  stated  many 
other  wonderful  things  about  the  devil-fish  and  the  gigantic 
prawn  of  Southern  Florida,  that  are  confirmed  by  other  au- 
thorities. The  author  has  regretted  many  times  since  that 
he  did  not  ask  for  and  record  the  exact  locality  of  this  won- 
derful spring. 


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MAROONER'S   ISLAND.  269 

"But  it  was  no  miracle.  It  was  only  the 
knowledge  of  a  singular  fact  in  the  geography  of 
the  sea  in  those  parts  that  every  sailor,  it  seems  to 
me,  ought  to  have  had." 

A  novel  device  of  the  captain's  for  grinding 
corn  attracted  Dr.  Gordon's  attention  soon  after 
he  came  aboard.  It  consisted  of  a  large  iron  pot, 
suspended  by  a  rope  from  the  yard  arm,  and  hav- 
ing within  it  a  cannon-ball  of  twenty  or  thirty  pounds 
weight.  Only  a  small  quantity  of  corn  was  put 
in  at  a  time,  and  the  rolling  around  of  the  ball, 
caused  by  a  rocking  of  the  pot  by  hand,  crushed 
the  grains  to  powder.  He  gave  as  an  excuse  for 
this  odd  contrivance,  the  fact  that  it  was  his  rule 
to  carry  on  his  voyages  a  sack  each  of  corn  meal 
and  grits,  but  that  having  forgotten  it  when  last  in 
port,  he  had  rigged  up  the  pot  and  cannon-ball  as 
the  best  substitute  he  could  think  of  for  a  mill  on 
shipboard.  He  said,  too,  that  any  degree  of  fine- 
ness could  be  obtained  by  this  means,  from  the 
most  impalpable  powder  to  a  bare  cracking  of  the 
grain,  only  that  it  would  be  very  irregularly  done ; 
and  that  he  doubted  not  he  could  grind  his  wheat, 
or  coffee,  or  spices  by  the  same  plan,  in  case  of 
need.  Pleased  with  the  simplicity  and  effective- 
ness of  the  device,  although  it  worked  slowly.  Dr. 
Grordon  made  a  note  of  it,  thinking  that  it  might 
some  day  be  practically  useful. 

Another   peculiarity  of  the  captain's  was  his 


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270  MAROONER'S  ISLAND 

butter.  It  always  came  to  table  in  sausage  shape, 
and,  strange  to  say,  in  sausage  skins.  He  said 
that  he  had  recently  met  with  it  in  the  West  In- 
dies, where  it  had  been  imported  from  England, 
put  up  in  this  way,  and  that  it  was  the  only  butter 
there  worth  eating. 

"Whether  its  sweetness  is  owing  to  its  being 
thus  put  up,  or  to  its  original  manufacture,  or  to 
both  combined,'*  said  he,  "  I  do  not  know.  But 
I  do  know  that  this  is  nice,  and  I  know,  too,  that 
pemmican,  Bologna  sausage,  and  other  force-meats, 
keep  all  the  better  for  being  put  up  in  skins. 
When  this  supply  is  out,  I  am  going  to  try  the 
experiment  with  my  home-made." 

It  is  but  fair,  however,  to  say  that  the  captain 
obtained,  as  well  as  communicated,  some  new  ideas 
during  the  voyage.  *  He  was  pleased  with  Dr. 
Gordon's  simple  device  for  keeping  his  matches 
^^y>  ^y  means  of  a  strong  vial  tightly  corked, 
which  he  carried  in  his  pocket. 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  he,  "  I  have  wished  a 
thousand  times  that  somebody  would  invent  a 
sailor's  mateh-box,  so  as  to  be  proof  against  wet. 
And  here  it  is  in  my  own  closet,  though  I  never 
knew  it  till  now." 

Among  the  other  novelties  of  the  occasion  must 
not  be  forgotten  the  experiences  of  Somassee  and 
Wildcat.  Versed  as  they  were  in  all  that  per- 
tained to  wood-craft,  they  had  never  before  been 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  271 

at  sea,  at  least  not  in  a  sailing  vessel,  and  were, 
therefore^  peculiarly  liable  to  what  befalls  most 
landsmen  on  their  introduction  to  this  new  life. 
The  vessel  was  now  rolling  in  what  was  called 
"  a  chopped  sea,^^  which  sometimes  has  an  effect 
even  on  old  sailors.  It  is  a  condition  of  the  sea 
produced  by  a  sudden  change  of  wind  raising  a 
new  set  of  waves  across  the  course  of  the  old,  and 
chopping  them  into  what  a  Georgia  backwoods- 
man would  call  potato  hills.  The  two  redskins 
had  at  first  enjoyed  themselves  vastly  in  an  in- 
spection of  the  rigging,  the  sails,  and  the  action 
of  the  wind  upon  the  canvas,  but  after  an  hour's 
tossing  upon  the  rough  water  they  began  to  look 
somewhat  serious,  then  a  little  pale,  and  finally 
distressed.  Indian-like,  they  struggled  hard 
against  the  coming  evil,  first  to  ignore,  then  to  en- 
dure, but  it  was  all  in  vain ;  for,  though  an  In- 
dian may  be  trained  to  scorn  pain  and  to  laugh 
even  at  death, — and  Somassee  and  Wildcat  were 
well  trained,  —  sea-sickness  is  quite  another  thing ; 
it  will  neither  be  scorned  nor  laughed  at.  The 
two  sufferers,  after  preserving  their  dignity  as  long 
as  possible,  were  at  last  compelled  to  yield  to  their 
fate.  Each  looked  inquiringly  at  the  other ;  but 
seeing  on  the  other's  face  only  a  reflection  of  his 
own  discomfort,  they  hastily  separated,  ran  to  op- 
posite sides  of  the  vessel,  leaned  for  sometime  over 
the  gunwales,  and  then  came  away,  looking  very 


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272  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

forlorn.  They  said  nothing,  but  the  kind-hearted 
captain,  reading  their  cases  in  their  countenances, 
offered  them  the  usual  round  of  sailor  remedies — 
brandy,  red  pepper,  and  salt-water.  These  having 
failed,  Wheeler  prevailed  upon  Somassee  to  lie 
with  his  back  upon  the  deck  and  his  feet  raised 
high  upon  the  mast,  in  which  position  he  found 
relief. 

Dr.  Gordon  tried,  in  Wildcat's  case,  but  with 
less  success,  the  experiment  of  looking  steadily  at 
a  tumbler  full  of  water,  which  he  held  in  his 
hand.  After  a  few  hours  the  unpleasant  motion 
of  the  ship  subsided  into  a  gently-prolonged  swing, 
which  proved  more  quickly  and  powerfully  resto- 
rative than  all  the  captain's  remedies,  or  the  other's 
devices. 

The  first  day's  sail  had  brought  them  nearly  to 
the  Cape.  The  second  day  was  one  of  calms  and 
of  baffling  winds.  The  progress  was  so  slow  that 
Dr.  Gordon  would  have  bid  adieu  to  his  pleasant 
host  and  taken  to  his  boat,  but  for  two  considera- 
tions,—  one  was  that  the  captain  declared  the 
weather  to  be  very  uncertain,  and,  in  that  latitude, 
very  unsafe ;  the  other  was,  that  the  day  was  the 
Sabbath,  which  Dr.  Gordon  preferred  to  spend,  if 
possible,  in  worship.  He,  therefore,  informed  the 
captain  that,  though  not  by  profession  a  clergy- 
man, he  was  accustomed  to  conducting  religious 
service,  either  with  a  book  or  without,  and  that, 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  273 

if  it  was  agreeable  to  him  and  his  crew,  he  would 
take  pleasure  in  rendering  such  aid  as  he  could  in 
the  services  aboard. 

Assent  was  most  cordially  given,  the  captain 
saying,  that  although  he  was  not,  at  that  time,  in 
membership  with  any  Christian  church,  he  once 
had  been,  and  had  not  forgotten  how  pleasant  it 
used  to  be  to  try  to  serve  God ;  and  that  it  was 
his  invariable  custom,  when  in  the  city  of  Charles- 
ton, to  attend  service  in  the  Mariner's  Church, 
conducted  by  the  earnest  and  sailor-souled  chap- 
lain there.  He  also  showed  Dr.  Gordon  a  copy 
of  the  Sailor's  Prayer-Book,  which  he  himself 
used  sometimes,  in  case  of  a  funeral  at  sea,  or  other 
emergency  requiring  a  form  of  worship. 

At  half-past  ten  o'clock,  the  crew  of  the  schooner, 
all  neatly  clad,  together  with  the  few  passengers, 
assembled  on  the  open  deck,  when  Dr.  Gordon, 
ably  seconded  by  the  captain,  led  their  devotions, 
and  made  a  short,  "  free  and  easy ''  address.  The 
sailors  seemed  greatly  to  enjoy  the  services,  as  sail- 
ors generally  do  when  they  are  feelingly  conducted. 
Rough  and  wicked  as  they  ordinarily  appear  to 
be,  there  is  more  of  child-like  simplicity  among 
them  as  a  class,  than  is  to  be  found  perhaps  in  any 
other  class  of  our  people,  and,  in  proportion,  as 
many  strong  hearts,  big  as  a  man's,  yet  tender  as 
a  child 's,  and  as  readily  responsive  to  earnest  re- 
ligious appeals.  They  appear  to  be  a  cast-off 
s 


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274  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

class,  only  because  they  have  hem  east  off  by  the 
greater  part  of  their  fellow-men.  After  service, 
one  of  them,  a  roughly-clad  fellow,  with  tarred 
hands  and  weather-beaten  visage,  came  to  Dr. 
Gordon,  made  himself  known  as  the  runaway  son 
of  an  English  clergyman,  gave  the  Doctor's  ex- 
tended hand  a  hearty  grip,  and  with  tears  in  his 
eyes,  remarked, — 

"  We  cannot  say  to-day,  as  we  too  often  can, 
that  there  is  no  Sabbath  in  four  faihoms  water  J^ 

Late  in  the  afternoon,  the  schooner  came  abreast 
of  Punta  Fancha,  known  now  as  Cape  Sable, 
where  she  was  brought  to  anchor,  a  musket-shot 
from  shore,  in  nine  feet  water,  this  being  the  near- 
est approach  to  land  she  could  make.  The  cap- 
tain seemed  really  sorry  to  part  company,  and, 
when  the  time  of  settlement  came,  refused  to  re- 
ceive a  cent,  saying,  — 

"  I  have  been  more  than  paid  in  the  profit  of 
your  company.'' 

"  But  we  have  partaken  of  your  stores,  and — ^" 

"  Nobo(Jy  but  yourself,  for  the  men  ate  of  their 
own,  and  I  am  only  sorry  that  you  cannot  stay 
longer." 

"  But,  sir,  you  received  my  boats  as  freight,  and 
agreed  to — " 

The  captain  interrupted  him  again,  saying,  "  No 
matter  what  I  agreed  to  before  I  knew  you.  Your 
boats  have  not  hurt  my  ship.     And  now  please 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 


275 


say  not  another  word  about  pay,  for  remember/* 
and  he  laughed  at  his  make-shift  of  a  reason,  "  to- 
day is  Sunday,  and  we  must  have  no  money  deal- 
ings/' 

Dr.  Gordon  laughed  too,  and  yielded  the  point. 
They  shook  hands  and  parted,  with  the  hope  that 
they  might  some  day  meet  again. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

CAPE  SABLE^ INDIAN  HUNTERS^ DISMAL  COAST— 
PLEASANT-LOOKING  ISLAND—  WHAT  DR.  GORDON 
FOUND—  WHAT  WHEELER  SAW— CONJECTURES— 
"LIVING  LIKE  PRINCES,'*  —  FIRE  SIGNAL  — MOC- 
CASSIN  TRACKS— ALMOST  FOUND— LONG  TRAMP 
—  STRANDED  CANOE—  WILDCAT  ACTS  OUT  OF 
CHARACTER  —  VOYAGE  RESUMED. 

APE  Sable  consists  in  reality  of  three 
capes,  all  of  which  rise  pleasantly,  though 
not  very  high  above  water,  and  present 
the  appearance,  inland,  of  an  immense 
old  field,  without  bush,  stump,  or  fence.  Its  sur- 
face is  composed  of  a  rich  grey  soil,  largely  inter- 
mixed with  disintegrated  shells,  and  is  what  used 
to  be  known  by  the  name  of  "  The  Yemasee  old 
field,''  but  it  is  probably  a  small  prairie,  or  natural 


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276  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

meadow,  extending  from  the  sea  to  the  hammock 
land  that  lies  behind  it,  stocked  with  live  oaks, 
magnolias,  enormous  vines  of  tropical  luxuriance, 
an  occasional  mahogany-tree  and  huava  palm. 

By  advice  of  the  captain.  Dr.  Gordon  landed 
on  the  middle  of  one  of  these  capes,  for  the  sake 
of  fresh  water,  to  be  had  in  a  natural  well  there, 
which  all  visitors  find  distinctly  marked  by  the 
only  trees  or  bushes  growing  on  the  point — a  tuft 
of  white  mangroves  or  button-tree. '  So  far  as  re- 
spects fresh  water,  however,  Somassee  remarked 
that  there  need  be  no  concern,  for  it  underlies  the 
whole  coast  of  Florida,  and  can  be  had  anywhere 
by  scooping  a  little  basin  in  the  sand,  a  few  inches 
above  salt  water — a  fact  which  if  known  to  pre- 
vious hunters  and  other  whites  might  have  pre- 
vented much  discomfort  and  perhaps  loss  of  life. 

Not  far  from  the  well  they  saw  the  smoke  of  an 
Indian  lodge,  and  on  sending  Somassee  and  Wild- 
cat to  ascertain  who  the  occupants  were,  they 
learned  that  they  were  a  party  of  Indian  hunters 
who  had  come  from  the  neighborhood  of  Char- 
lotte Harbor,  left  their  boats  concealed  in  a  neigh- 
boring creek,  and  were  now  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  comrades  before  going  to  the  hunting  grounds 
adjoining  Biscayne  Bay.  They  seemed  to  be  yery 
poor,  and  received  with  gratitude  a  few  pounds  of 
ship  bread,  and  a  small  piece  of  meat  sent  them 
by  Dr.  Gordon.     On  being  questioned  as  to  the 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  277 

missing  company  of  young  folks,  they  answered 
that  they  had  heard  rumors  of  a  boat  full  of  young 
people  being  carried  off,  but  no  more.  Somassee 
informed  them  that  the  father  of  the  children  had 
come  to  look  for  them,  and  that  he  would  pay  a 
large  reward  to  any  who  should  restore  them  to 
him.  They  replied  that  if  any  one  might  be  re- 
lied upon  to  find  them,  it  would  be  the  father,  and 
that  if  he  had  searched  for  them  thus  far  in  vain, 
no  one  else  need  hope  for  success;  nevertheless 
that  they  would  try  what  they  could  do  on  their 
way  back  from  the  hunting  grounds. 

Early  next  morning,  the  company  left  Cape 
Sable,  and  for  two  days  had  most  dismal  work, 
sailing  and  rowing  amid  thousands  of  little  man- 
grove islands,  that  barely  rise  above  the  water  and 
choke  the  mouths  of  all  creeks  and  rivers  empty- 
ing from  the  everglades  into  the  Gulf.  The  marsh 
seemed  to  be  without  limit.  The  two  boats  pene- 
trated it  for  miles,  yet  it  had  every  appearance  of 
extending  as  many  miles  beyond.  Indeed  it  was 
one  of  those  doubtful  margins  between  land  and 
water,  so  equally  divided  between  both  that  it 
might  puzzle  any  one  to  determine  to  which  it  be- 
longed. There  were  visible  no  spots  fit  for  the 
habitation  of  a  bear  or  a  panther,  much  less  of  a 
human  being ;  and  the  only  creatures  possessing  life 
seen  by  any  of  the  company  during  that  part  of  the 
cruise,  were  alligators,  turtles,  and  water  birds. 


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278  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

Having,  however,  passed  these  dismal  places, 
they  came  on  the  third  day  to  a  clear  coast,  with 
well-defined  creeks  and  rivers,  and  decked  with 
pleasant-looking  islands.  Here  it  was,  that  their 
search  may  be  said  to  have  really  commenced ;  and 
here,  where  Somassee's  canoe  was  first  called  into 
requisition;  for  while  the  large  boat  sailed,  or 
rowed,  as  the  case  might  be,  around  the  seaward 
limits  of  the  islands,  landing  and  looking  around 
at  every  convenient  point,  and  firing  volleys  of 
guns  to  attract  attention,  the  canoe  went  by  the 
inside  passage,  and  met  them  at  the  northern  end 
of  each.  In  passing  around  one  of  these,  the 
larger  boat  was  so  long  detained  in  waiting  for  the 
smaller,  which  was  compelled  to  go  half  way  past 
the  next  island  before  turning  toward  sea,  that 
Dr.  Gordon  instructed  Somassee,  in  a  similar  case, 
to  keep  on  to  the  inlet  beyond. 

In  process  of  time  they  arrived  at  a  long  and 
pleasant-looking  island  with  a  hard  smooth  beach, 
having  at  the  southern  extremity  a  river  or  inlet 
bordered  on  each  side  by  a  wide  mangrove-marsh. 
On  nearing  its  southern  point  Dr.  Gordon  re- 
quested Somassee  and  Wildcat  to  take,  as  usual, 
the  inside  passage,  and  to  meet  him  at  some  place 
suitable  for  encampment  on  this  island  or  the 
next. 

"  At  next  island,^'  replied  Somassee,  exchanging 
significant  looks  with  Wildcat. 


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maroon±:r'S  island,  279 

*^  Well,  lefc  it  be  the  next ;  only  do  not  go  be- 
yond it  unless  compelled/^  said  Dr.  Gordpn,  and 
with  this  they  parted. 

The  canoe  entered  the  creek  and  soon  disap- 
peared, while  the  larger  boat  sailed  slowly  along, 
stopping  here  and  there  to  allow  some  of  the  par- 
ties aboard  to  land  and  examine  the  interior. 

Dr.  Gordon  had  taken  his  turn  and  was  walk- 
ing leisurely  along  the  beach,  which  was  profusely 
covered  with  shells  of  every  description,  some 
being  of  exquisite  beauty,  when  his  eye  was  caught 
by  the  appearance  of  something  white.  He  ap- 
proached ;  it  was  a  piece  of  linen,  half  buried  in 
the  sand  beside  a  gigantic  conch-shell,  over  the 
upturned  lip  of  which  it  partly  hung,  moving  in 
the  breeze.  He  drew  it  out;  it  was  a  pocket- 
handkerchief,  of  small  size,  such  as  is  used  by 
children.  He  rinsed  it  in  a  little  pool  of  water, 
in  the  hollow  of  the  sands.  There,  in  one  corner, 
neatly  marked, — he  could  discern  the  style  of  his 
wife's  needlework, — were  the  initials  of  his  own 
dear  little  son,  F.  G: 

Clasping  the  precious  relic  to  his  bosom,  and 
lifting  his  eyes  upward,  he  could  only  ejaculate, — 
"Father,!  thank  thee!''  when  he  reeled,  and 
almost  fell  upon  the  shelly  beach. 

The  boat  had  by  this  time  passed  ahead,  and 
Wheeler,  who  was  at  the  helm,  and  whose  atten- 
tion had  been  engrossed  by  something  forward, 
was  suddenly  accosted  by  William,  who  said, — 


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28Q  MAROONER' S  ISLAND. 

"  Stop  !  some  'ns  de  matter  wi'  massa !  He 
most  fall  down,  jes'  now." 

Wheeler  immediately  put  the  boat  about  and 
made  for  shore ;  and  seeing  Dr.  Gordon  earnestly 
looking  at  something  in  his  hand,  called  out, — 

"  What  have  you  found.  Doctor  ?" 

For  a  moment  no  answer  was  returned ;  only 
the  white  handkerchief  in  Dr.  Gordon's  hand  flut- 
tered in  the  breeze ;  then  followed,  in  a  hesitating, 
almost  incoherent  way  the  words — 

"  I — hope — we — have  found  them.'' 

"  I  trust  so,  indeed  1"  returned  Wheeler,  moved 
by  strong  sympathy,  as  he  examined  the  interest- 
ing little  token. 

"  And  if  I  am  not  mistaken,"  he  continued, 
"  there  is  something  more  for  you  at  yonder  point. 
When  William  called  to  me,  I  was  just  about  to 
set  the^py-glass  upon  it.  I  think  it  is  a  flying 
signal." 

They  re-embarked,  and  on  attaining  a  few  boat 
lengths  from  shore,  the  object  alluded  to  by  Whee- 
ler was  plainly  visible  through  the  spy-glass,  a 
white  signal  flying  from  a  pole,  around  which  the 
greater  part  of  it  had  been  wrapped  by  the  daily 
shifting  of  the  breeze.  They  went,  fast  as  oars 
and  sails  could  carry  them,  to  the  northern  end  of 
the  island,  where  a  river-like  inlet  entered  squarely 
from  the  sea.  Half  way  up  the  bluff,  and  deeply 
planted  in  its  sands,  was  a  pole,  and  on  it  was 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  281 

fastened  part  of  a  linen  sheet,  on  which  Dr.  Gor- 
don recognized,  after  it  was  taken  down,  the  joint 
initials  of  himself  and  wife.  Near  the  flag-staff 
was  a  pile  of  wood,  overlying  a  quantity  of  grass 
leaves,  twigs  and  other  combustibles,  for  the  evi- 
dent purpose  of  making  a  quick  and  large  fire- 
signal  ;  and  only  a  few  steps  from  this  pile  was  a 
spot  covered  with  ashes  and  charred  fragments, 
proving  that  a  fire-signal  had  been  attempted  there 
before. 

"  Your  young  people  must  have  seen  some  ves- 
sel passing,''  remarked  Wheeler,  surveying  the 
signs.  "  Though  by  the  weather-beaten  look  of 
this  spot  I  should  judge  it  was  at  least  a  month 
ago.     Possibly  they  have  been  taken  off.'' 

"Then  why  this  new  pile  of  wood,  and  this 
flying  signal?"  argued  Dr.  Gordon. 

"  Only  because  in  the  hurry  of  leaving,  they 
forgot  to  remove  them,"  Wheeler  answered. 

"  Come  on,  mossa !  H'yuh's  a  nurrah  sign  I " 
shouted  William  from  the  bend  beyond. 

They  hurried  there  and  saw  a  basin  scooped  in 
the  sand  for  fresh  water,  which  on  being  tested, 
proved  to  be  both  good  and  abundant,  and  sur- 
rounded with  a  little  palisade  to  protect  it  from 
the  tide.  Above  the  spring,  in  the  dry  sand  at  the 
foot  of  the  bluff,  was  a  worn  path,  plentifully 
marked  with  footprints,  some  of  which  were  very 
recent,  and  none  of  them  older  than  the  last  spring 


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282  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

tide,  which  had  covered  the  whole  beach  only  ten 
or  twelve  days  before. 

"  This  proves  that  they  did  not  leave  the  island 
at  the  time  of  the  fire-signal/'  said  Dr.  Gordon, 

"  I  give  up  the  point,"  answered  Wheeler. 
"  Some  of  these  tracks  are  certainly  not  a  week 
old,  if  they  are  three  days.  But  where  are  the 
young  folks  themselves?'* 

So  conclusive  was  the  evidence  of  their  having 
been  on  this  very  spot,  only  a  few  days  before,  if 
not  still  in  the  neighborhood,  that  Dr.  Gordon  ex- 
pected every  moment  to  see  one  or  the  other  of 
them  running  to  meet  him. 

"  Our  guns !  our  guns ! "  he  exclaimed  with  sud- 
den energy,  "  let  us  give  a  volley  to  call  their  at- 
tention. Go,  William,  and  bring  them  from  the 
boat." 

While  William  was  gone  on  this  errand.  Dr. 
Gordon  and  Wheeler  followed  the  foot-path.  It 
kept  along  the  sands  for  a  little  way,  then  led  up 
the  bluff  to  a  magnificent  live-oak  that  graced  the 
level  above.  This  tree  was  not  tall,  (live-oaks 
never  are,  seldom  attaining  the  height  of  more 
than  fifty  feet,)  but  it  was  broad,  and  its  long 
branches,  covered  with  glossy  green  leaves,  and 
draped  with  grey  moss,  which  hung  in  streamers 
or  festoons,  eight,  ten  or  fifteen  feet  long,  over- 
spread a  circle  of  more  than  a  hundred  feet  in 
diameter.     Beneath  the  shady  cover  of  this  tree, 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  283 

were  plentiful  signs  of  a  very  recent  date — bones 
of  ham,  and  of  fresh  venison,  partly  gnawed  by 
the  dogs — deer  tails  and  scraps  of  deer  skin — 
feathers  of  the  wild  turkey — fish  bones,  and 
oyster  and  crab  shells,  with  some  of  the  flesh  still 
in  a  state  of  preservation,  and  so  many  other  signs 
of  good  living,  that  Wheeler,  on  seeing  them, 
smacked  his  lips,  and  s^id,  — 

^'  Doctor,  I  think  you  will  find  your  young  ma- 
roonei's  decidedly  fatter  now  than  they  were  when 
they  left  home.  I  long  to  join  them  in  their  good 
cheer.     They  have  been  living  here  like  princes." 

In  addition  to  these  pleasant  signs,  were  traces 
of  the  tent,  pitched  under  the  oak  —  the  holes  left 
by  the  centre  pole  and  by  the  pins,  fresh  almost  as 
if  made  the  day  before — and  there,  also,  were 
three  thick  beds  of  moss,  which  had  served  for 
mattresses,  each  with  its  nest-like  place  for  the 
body  of  the  sleeper,  still  remaining,  and  dry  as  it 
was  before  the  tent  was  removed,  proving  that  it 
had  been  deserted  since  the  last  rain. 

But  where  were  the  young  people  ?  And  why 
did  they  not  respond  to  the  signals?  Either  the 
island  was  larger  than  most  others  on  the  coast, 
and  they  had  renaoved  to  some  distant  point,  or 
they  had  left  it  altogether. 

One  fact  m  the  case  perplexed,  and,  for  a  time, 
disturbed  Dr.  Gordon.  It  was  that  the  footprints 
o{  moccasined  fr£t  were  as  abundant  as  the  tracks 


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284  MAROONER'  S  ISLAND. 

left  by  shoes.  Now,  who  were  these  moccasin 
wearers?  and  why  were  they  intermingling  so 
freely  with  his  children?  True,  the  tracks  all 
seemed  to  answer  in  size  to  the  age  of  his  own 
missing  ones,  and  one  of  them  especially  to  that  of 
his  little  Frank.  But  Indians  are  proverbial  for 
their  small  and  handsomely  shaped  feet.  Dr. 
Gordon  could  not  resist  the  occasional  incoming 
of  some  horrible  thoughts,  and  they  finally 
troubled  him  so  much  that  he  gave  them  utterance 
to  Wheeler,  who  at  once  replied,  — 

"  You  count  four  young  people  in  the  missing 
company,  do  you  not?  Well,  I  count  only  four 
persons  among  all  these  tracks ;  and  if  the  small 
foot  in  moccasins  is  not  that  of  your  little  boy,  I 
see  no  track  of  him  at  all.  Rest  assured,  sir,  their 
shoes  began  to  give  way,  and  they  have  supplied 
their  place  with  moccasins.  Remember,  they  have 
now  been  g6ne  six  weeks ;  and  children's  shoes 
wear  out  very  fast — at  least  this  used  to  be  so 
when  I  was  a  child.'' 

By  this  time  William  approached  with  the  guns, 
and  they  fired  volley  after  volley,  then  went  to 
the  flagHstaff  and  raised  the  smoke-signal,  by  set- 
ting fire  to  the  pile  heaped  there,  and  adding  more 
green  wood  to  it..  Still  there  was  no  response;  and 
as  evening  drew  on.  Dr.  Gordon,  recalling  what 
had  been  said  in  the  message  by  gourd,  of  their 
intending  to  make  a  canoe  the  next  week,  began 


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MAROONER' S  ISLAND.  285 

to  fear  (or  to  hope,  he  hardly  knew  which),  that 
they  had  left  the  island  for  home.  Ere  dark, 
however,  Wheeler,  who  had  been  exercising  his 
wild-woods  skill  in  scrutinizing  the  tracks  made 
in  different  directions,  called  Dr.  Gordon  to  notice 
that  the  plainest  and  freshest  of  them  all  led  to 
the  water's  edge,  where  they  had  evidently  em- 
barked, after  passing  and  repassing  many  times 
between  the  tree  and  the  river,  as  if  taking  many 
turns  to  carry  off  what  they  had. 

^*  See  here,"  said  he,  "  is  a  moccasin  track  an- 
swering to  your  nephew's,  and  another  that  fits  the 
foot  of  your  little  boy ;  and  here,  also,  are  shoe- 
prints,  answering  to  the  feet  of  your  son  and  your 
daughter.  And  if  this  here  is^not  the  track  left 
by  a  negro,  I  never  saw  one  before,  and  a  one- 
legged  negro  at  that — at  least  using  only  one  leg, 
for  there  is  the  sign  of  but  one  foot,  and  on  each 
side  are  the  holes  left  by  his  crutches.  Doctor, 
your  young  folks  left  this  place  by  water,  not  more 
than  four  days  ago, — stop !  let  me  count  the  tide- 
marks." 

He  examined  them,  then  reported,  "  There  are 
two  tide-marks  left  since  the  first  set  of  the  tracks 
were  made,  and  one  since  the  other  set.  And  as 
there  is  only  one  tide  a  day  on  this  coast,  this  will 
make  two  days.  To-day  is  Wednesday.  They 
must  have  left  yesterday  before  high  water,  or  on 
Monday  evening,  after  the  tide." 


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286  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

O,  how  near  this  was  to  meeting  them !  Dr. 
Gordon  felt  almost  disappointed,  although  he  was 
pretty  well  assured  that  in  leaving  the  island  they 
had  made  direct  for  Tampa,  and  that  on  his  return 
he  should  find  them  there.  It  was  therefore  with 
a  strange  mixture  of  satisfaction  and  disappoint- 
ment that  he  lay  awake  that  night,  reflecting  upon 
the  altered  state  of  affairs,  and  saying  to  himself, — 

"  Had  we  only  kept  on,  in  our  own  boats,  in- 
stead of  going  by  schooner  to  Cape  Sable,  we 
should  have  met  them  here.  Yet  I  esteemed  our 
meeting  that  schooner  a  fortunate  circumstance, 
and  engaged  a  passage  aboard  as  the  surest  and 
the  shortest  way  of  gaining  my  end !  How  little 
we  know  what  lieS  before  us !  How  perfectly  un- 
der the  finger  of  Providence ! 

"  *  Sure,  there's  a  destiny  that  shapes  our  ends, 
Rough-hew  them  as  we  may.' " 

One  result  of  his  reflections  during  the  night, 
was  a  decision  expressed  to  Wheeler,  as  soon  as 
they  awaked,  that  he  would  remain  at  the  island 
that  day  for  the  purpose  of  giving  it  a  thorough 
search  before  leaving.  Immediately  after  break- 
fast, therefore,  while  Wheeler  shoved  the  boat 
from  shore,  anchored  her  in  the  stream,  and  re- 
mained aboard  as  guard,  Dr.  Gordon,  with  Wil- 
liam, went  to  explore  the  island.  The  sea-side 
and  its  immediate  neighborhood  having  been  al- 
ready examined,  and  there  being  every  reason  to 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  287 

believe  that  the  margin  toward  the  main  had  been 
observed  with  equal  fidelity  by  Soraassee  and 
Wildcat,  he  resolved  to  strike  across  as  near  as  he 
could  through  its  centre,  then  to  return  by  its 
eastern  margin. 

This  plan,  which  was  certainly  good,  was  not 
so  easy  of  accomplishment,  for  the  inland  growth 
was  very  dense,  and,  moreover,  it  was  tangled  with 
vines,  myrtles,  dwarf  palmettos  and  other  shrubs, 
which  so  impeded  their  march  that  they  scarcely 
made  more  than  two  miles  an  hour.  Having 
toiled  onward,  through  brake  and  brier,  until  they 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  river  and  marsh  to  the 
south,  they  turned  toward  the  main  and  tried  to 
follow  the  eastern  shore  of  the  island.  This  was, 
however,  next  to  impossible,  from  the  great  num- 
ber of  baygalls,  or  miry  bottoms,  setting  in  from 
the  marsh  beyond  ;  so,  after  going  little  more  than 
a  mile,  they  struck  a  course  again  for  the  beach, 
and  reached  the  boat  exceedingly  weary  and  hungry. 

After  rest  and  refreshment,  they  set  off  a  second 
time,  and  went  several  miles  around  the  northern 
and  north-eastern  edge,  but  finding  at  last  the 
same  kind  of  growth  which  had  impeded  their 
course  in  the  forenoon,  and  feeling  confident  that 
his  children  would  not  select  so  undesirable  a  lo- 
cation for  their  abode,  he  once  more  returned  to 
the  beach,  satisfied  now  that  they  had  left  the  is- 
land and  embarked  for  home.     Every  hour  or 


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288  MAROONER' S   ISLAND. 

half  hour  through  the  day  one  or  the  other  had 
fired  a  gun,  in  hopes  to  reach  the  ears  of  the  young 
people,  if  still  upon  the  island ;  and  this  was  con- 
tinued, although  the  wind  was  blowing  so  freshly 
from  the  east  as  to  deaden  all  sounds  which  crossed 
its  course. 

Nothing  remained,  now,  but  to  leave  the  island, 
and  rejoin  the  canoe,  which  had  been  separated 
from  them  for  more  than  a  day.  Before  embark- 
ing, however.  Dr.  Gordon  went  to  the  flag-staflTand 
fastened  to  it  by  wooden  pegs  a  copy  of  an  adver- 
tisement, of  which  he  had  had  a  number  prepared, 
in  a  fair  round  hand,  by  a  good  scribe  at  Tampa, 
and  had  posted  one  at  every  favorable  place  upon 
the  coast,  from  Cape  Sable  to  this  point. 

About  an  hour  and  a  half  by  sun  they  left  the 
island,  and  passed  up  the  coast,  examining  as  they 
went,  until  near  dark,  when  they  met  Somassee 
and  Wildcat  awaiting  them  at  the  next  inlet. 
The  voyagers  by  canoe  had  seen  nothing  of  the 
missing  company,  nor  even  any  signs  of  them 
along  the  way :  their  only  approach  to  this  being 
the  discovery  in, the  marsh,  upon  a  heap  of  dead 
mangroves,  of  a  stranded  canoe,  which  Dr.  Gor- 
don strongly  suspected  to  be  Riley's.  The  joy  of 
Wildcat,  in  this  almost  discovery  of  his  young 
friends,  was  unbounded ;  and  he  gave  to  it  an  ut- 
terance so  unrestrained  and  un-Indian-like,  that 
Somassee  looked  on  with -surprise,  and  said  to  him 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  289 

In  intended  rebuke,  that  any  one,  to  hear  him  speak, 
might  almost  take  him  for  a  "  pale  face." 

The  evidence  of  the  young  people's  embarkation 
and  probable  return  to  Tampa  was  so  strong,  that 
all  retired  to  rest  that  night  in  fine  spirits.  Next 
morning,  bright  and  early,  they  resumed  their 
voyage,  and  to  some  extent  their  explorations :  but 
though  they  landed  at  various  points  and  ex- 
amined the  coast,  they  did  not  spend  much  time 
in  needless  delays,  being  all  conscious  of  a  strong 
attraction  toward  Tampa,  in  the  hope  of  meeting 
there  the  objects  of  their  long  and  laborious  search. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

CHEERY  RETURN— JUDY'S  WELCOME  — SAD  DL^AP- 
POINTMENT—FORT  BROOKE  — BAD  NEWS— UN- 
EXPECTED JOURNEY— EARLY  STEAMBOATS  ON 
THE  ST.  JOHNS  RIVER  —  TRA  TELLERS '  R  ULES  AND 
TRA  VELLERS'  FARE  IN  A  WILD  COUNTR  Y—  SIGNS 
OF  A  DISTANT  STEAMBOAT— NEGRO  SONGS—  GET- 
TING ABOARD  — LETTERS  AND  PLANS— MRS.  GOR- 
DON—MRS.  MCfNTOSH— ABREAST  OF  BELLEVUE  — 
THE  PILOT-BOAT— OLD  TAHGA— PREPARE  FOR 
ANOTHER  TOUR. 

UR  story  has  already  spread  over  much 

ground,   and    there   remains   so   much 

more  to  be  told,  that  we  are  compelled 

to  pass  rapidly  over  the  incidents  of  the 

next  few  weeks,  and  will  condense  into  a   few 

T 


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290  MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

pages,  the  history  of  as  much  time  as  has  been  oc- 
cupied with  all  the  previous  narrative. 

After  leaving  tlie  island,  where  the  signs  of  the 
young  people  were  so  abundant  and  fresh,  the  two 
boats  moved  rapidly  and  cheerily  toward  Tampa, 
peeping  into  the  inlets,  and  peering  over  the  sand- 
capped  bluffs  wherever  convenient;  but  scarcely 
devoting  to  any  part  what  may  be  called  a  fair 
examination,  and  at  the  same  time  enlivening  their 
passage  with  jest  and  story  and  song. 

So  firmly  persuaded  were  they  all  of  the  young 
people's  return  home,  that  soon  after  entering  the 
Bay,  and  while  Bellevue  was  barely  within  sight. 
Dr.  Gordon  drew  out  the  spy-glass  to  a  nicely 
adjusted  focus,  fixed  it  steadily  upon  his  house  and 
premises,  hoping  to  have  his  eyes  gladdened  with 
the  familiar  form  of  some  one  of  those  who  had 
been  so  long  lost  and  now  probably  restored.  Un- 
able, however,  to  discover  any  indication  of  their 
presence,  he  passed  the  glass  to  Wheeler,  who,  af- 
ter examining,  transferred  it  to  Wildcat  and  Somas- 
see.  All  looked  eagerly,  but  in  vain.  The  only 
person  they  saw,  even  when  near  the  landing,  was 
Judy,  who,  faithful  soul,  was  hurrying  down  the 
bluff,  waving  her  hands  in  joyful  welcome. 

"  Huddie,  mossa!  huddie !  I  so  glad  to  see  you ! " 
she  said. 

"Thank  you,  and  ,how-d'ye  back  again,''  re- 
turned her  master,  then  added  in  anxious  tones,  "  I 
hope  the  young  people  are  with  you  and  all  well.'' 

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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  291 

"  Eh  !  eh !  my  mossa ! "  she  replied,  the  tears 
starting  into  her  eyes,  "  How  you  talk !  No 
chillun  yuh!" 

The  shock  created  by  these  words  was  visible, 
not  only  on  Dr.  Gordon,  but  in  the  whole  company. 
Wheeler  fixed  his  eyes  on  the  agitated  father,  and 
seeing  him  turn  pale  and  tremble  from  head  to 
foot,  offered  him  at  once  his  water  canteen,  saying 
in  a  very  confident  tone  as  he  did  so,  — 

"They  must  have  passed  on  to  Fort  Brooke. 
Come,  let  us  go  there  at  once.^^ 

"Maybe  we  pass  em  on  de  way,"  suggested 
William.  "  We  been  trabbel  mighty  fast  comin ' 
back." 

Dr.  Gordon  yielded,  as  best  he  could,  to  these 
words  of  hope,  but  they  furnished  little  conso- 
lation; for  the  returning  boat,  in  going  to  Fort 
Brooke  from  the  Gulf,  must  of  necessity  have 
passed  Bellevue,  and  would  doubtless  have  stopped 
there  to  report ;  and  as  for  having  passed  them  on 
the  way,  that  was  possible,  but  the  hope  of  it  was 
very  forlorn.  With  spirits  greatly  depressed,  and 
with  a  few  sad  words  to  Judy,  explaining  the  case, 
and  instructing  her  what  to  do  if  the  young  folks 
should  still  make  their  appearance,  the  suggestion 
of  Wheeler  was  adopted,  the  sails  were  once  more 
spread,  and  the  boats  passed  on. 

The  trial  of  the  chief  actor  in  these  scenes  was 
not  yet  at  its  end.     On  reaching  the  Fort,  a  letter 


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292  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

from  Charleston  was  received,  announcing  that  a 
rumor  of  the  accident  which  had  befallen  the 
young  people  had  reached  the  city — that  every 
effort  had  been  made  to  keep  it  from  Mrs.  Gordon, 
but  in  vain — that  the  effect  upon  her  already 
weakened  nervous  system  had  been  such  as  to 
bring  her  to  death's  door,  and  that,  although  the 
physician  hoped  for  better  things,  it  was  his  opin- 
ion that  if  Dr.  Gordon  wished  to  see  her  alive,  he 
must  return  without  delay. 

Many  persons  might  suppose  that  this  new  grief 
would  have  crushed  the  afflicted  man  to  the  earth  ; 
but  it  is  usually  true  of  manly  spirits  that  new 
trials  bring  out  new  energies,  and,  instead  of  de- 
pressing, cause  them  to  act  with  redoubled  vigor. 
It  was  mid-day  of  Monday,  December  13th,  when 
Dr.  Gordon  received  this  intelligence,  and  by  six 
o'clock  the  next  morning  he  was  bestriding  a  stout 
Indian  pony,  with  Somassee,  similarly  mounted, 
as  guide  and  companion  through  the  Seminole 
territory,  on  a  journey  to  the  eastern  side  of  the 
l)eninsula,  where  he  hoped  to  obtain  passage  to 
Charleston. 

His  last  words  to  Major  Burke,  uttered  with 
almost  tearful  earnestness  in  the  act  of  setting  out, 
were,  ** Don't  give  them  up,  cousin!  Don't  let 
the  search  even  slacken,  because  I  am  not  here  to 
push  it.  They  are  almost  certainly  on  the  way 
liere,  or  have  been  stopped  by  some  misadventure. 


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MAROONER'S    ISLAND.  293 

And  may  the  Lord's  blessing,  and  the  blessings 
of  those  ready  to  perish,  be  with  you ! " 

^The  route  pursued  by  the  two  travellers  was  the 
same  as  that  so  sadly  marked  a  few  years  later  by 
the  march  and  massacre  of  a  body  of  United 
States  soldiers,  under  command  of  the  gallant 
Major  Dade ;  and  they  hoped  to  reach  some  place 
on  the  river  St.  John's  where  the  Doctor  might 
take  passage  aboard  one  or  other  of  the  few  little 
steamboats  beginning  at  that  time  to  ply  between 
the  settlements  on  that  noble  river  and  the  sea- 
board cities  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  It 
was  not  true,  then,  as  now,  however,  that  the  ar- 
rival and  departure  of  boats  at  the  different  land- 
ings could  be  calculated  to  the  hour;  they  plied 
there  for  produce  rather  than  for  passengers,  and 
being  small  in  size,  and  furnished  with  feeble 
machinery,  were  compelled  to  be  very  submissive 
to  all  changes  of  the  wind  and  weather.  The  ex- 
pectation of  finding  a  boat  upon  the  river,  or  even 
at  the  the  seaport,  St.  Augustine,  after  his  long 
overland  journey,  was  very  unreliable. 

As  it  was  necessary  to  economize  in  the  highest 
degree  the  travelling  powers  of  both  men  and 
beasts,  Dr.  Gordon  commenced  by  making  the  first 
day's  journey  quite  short,  the  second  longer,  and 
the  third  longer  still.  Each  day's  journey  was 
begun  in  a  slow  walk,  gradually  increased  to  the 
highest  speed  which  could  be  continued,  with  a 


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294  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

few  resting  spells  throughout  the  day.  The  night's 
lodging  and  accommodation  were  generally  o^  a 
very  simple  and  unexpensive  kind ;  the  ponies 
were  hobbled  and  turned  loose  to  graze,  after 
having  been  fed  upon  a  few  handfuls  of  corn 
brought  for  the  purpose,  and  the  supper  of  the 
travellers  consisted  of  a  few  grains  from  the  same 
bag,  parched  and  eaten  with  a  little  sugar  or  salt. 
Somassee  kept  a  watchful  eye  upon  the  ponies 
throughout  the  first  half  of  the  night,  never  per- 
mitting them  to  wander  far,  then  bringing  them 
to  camp  and  haltering  them,  that  they  might  ob- 
tain their  needful  sleep.  This  sleep,  of  about  two 
hours  before  day,  being  more  needful  to  a  horse 
than  that  of  all  the  rest  of  the  night  besides,  and 
being  all  that  is  absolutely  needed  for  his  refresh- 
ment, they  were  careful  never  to  disturb. 

The  face  of  the  country  between  Tampa  and 
the  St.  John's  river  is  a  perfect  level ;  the  road 
(or  as  Somassee  called  it,  the  trail),  was  generally 
firm  and  smooth,  .and  the  travellers  made  such 
good  use  of  their  time,  that  by  Saturday  night  they 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  northern  bend  of  the 
river,  and  there  stopped  with  a  planter  in  sight 
of  the  then  infant  town  of  Jacksonville,  appear- 
ing miles  away  upon  the  other  bank.  Here  Dr. 
Gordon  resolved  to  pause  for  a  day  and  spend  the 
Sabbath,  being  influenced  to  this  not  only  by  the 
higher  motive   of  yielding  obedience  to  a  plain 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  295 

teaching  of  the  Bible,  but  also  from  the  lower 
motive  of  giving  rest  to  wearied  muscles,  and  thus 
being  prepared  for  whatever  labors  may  yet  be 
necessary.  To  his  great  joy,  he  learned  that  by 
Monday,  mid-day,  the  Magnolia^  a  pleasant  little 
steamboat  plying  between  the  plantations  here  and 
the  city  of  Charleston,  might  be  expected  to  pass 
on  her  northward  trip. 

At  the  predicted  time,  a  little  volume  of  black 
smoke,  far  up  the  lake-like  river,  began  to  roll 
over  the  gigantic  cypresses  and  rich-looking  mag- 
nolias, announcing  that  the  expected  steamboat 
would  soon  be  in  sight.  This  was  followed  in  the 
course  of  time  by  a  noisy  clack !  clack !  of  ma- 
chinery, and  by  a  roar,  as  of  water  disturbed;  for 
the  operations  by  steam  of  that  day  were  far  less 
•quiet  than  they  are  now. 

The  gentlemanly  planter,  at  whose  house  Dr. 
Gordon  had  spent  his  day  of  delightful  rest,  and 
who  had  placed  at  his  disposal  a  handsome  plan- 
tation boat,  manned  by  four  lusty  negroes,  was  so 
loth,  when  the  time  came,  to  part  with  his  guest, 
that  he  made  some  excuse  for  accompanying  him 
to  the  steamboat. 

No  sooner  were  they  fairly  under  way  than .  a 
significant  "  Ah-oo ! ''  was  heard  from  one  of  the 
oarsmen,  who,  without  further  preliminary  or  per- 
mission, started  a  low,  plaintive  melody,  in  which 
the  others  united,  swelling  it  louder  and  louder 


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296  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

until  it  might  have  been  heard  to  the  distance  of 
a  mile.  Not  much  could  be  said  in  praise  of  either 
the  poetry  or  music,  but  the  voices  were  rich  and 
well  toned,  and  the  performers  seemed  greatly  to 
enjoy  their  own  performance.  Negroes  are  pro- 
verbially fond  of  music,  and  never  are  they  more 
inclined  to  indulge  in  it  than  when  upon  the  water. 
Their  songs,  always  simple  in  language  and  utter- 
ance, are  then  marked  by  a  peculiar  expression  of 
sound  which  cannot  be  better  described  than  by 
calling  it  water-music.  A  boat-song  can  always 
be  recognized,  and  it  is  seldom,  if  ever,  heard  upon 
land.  Negroes  are  capital  time-keepers,  and  the 
effect  of  their  songs  while  tugging  at  the  oar  is  to 
impart  such  regularity  and  force  to  the  stroke,  that 
it  is  usually  good  economy  to  encourage  their 
singing.  The  boat  glided  swiftly  over  the  glassy 
surface.  There  was  ever  a  hissing  ripple  at  the 
bows,  and  a  tiny  jet,  raised  by  the  cutwater,  grace- 
fully projecting  a  few  inches  beyond. 

On  nearing  the  steamboat,  Somassee,  who  was 
in  company,  received  his  last  instructions,  together 
with  a  note  to  the  commandant  at  Fort  Brooke ; 
the  planter  and  his  guest  bade  each  other  adieu 
with  mutual  regret ;  the  teeth  of  the  negroes  shone 
with  pleasure  at  the  sight  of  sundry  little  silver 
coins  chinking  in  their  hands ;  the  steamboat  glided 
noiselessly  up,  propelled  by  its  own  momentum 
for  the  last  quarter  of  a  mile,  the  revolution  of 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAKU.  297 

the  paddle-wheels  having  been  arrested  on  a  signal 
from  the  planter ;  a  rope  ladder  was  lowered  from 
its  side,  up  which  the  new  passenger  ascended  to 
the  deck,  followed  by  his  baggage;  the  tinkle  of 
a  little  bell,  touched  by  the  captain,  set  in  motion 
the  paddle-wheels,  which  renewed  their  deep  dig- 
ging into  the  water,  and  the  obedient  boat  was 
once  more  ploughing  her  foamy  way  toward  Jack- 
sonville, the  ocean,  and  Charleston, 

At  that  day  it  was  customary  for  the  weak  steam 
craft  engaged  in  our  coast  trade,  to  avoid  the  dan- 
gers of  the  ocean  by  seeking  the  smooth  water 
lying  between  the  main  and  the  almost  continuous 
chain  of  islands  extending  along  the  Atlantic 
shore  from  Florida  to  Maryland.  On  this  occa- 
sion, however,  the  weather  was  so  calm,  and  the 
ocean  so  smooth,  that  the  adventurous  caj^tain 
pushed  boldly  to  sea,  instead  of  following  the 
crooked  creeks  and  the  narrow  cuts  of  the  inside 
passage,  and  being  thus  delayed  only  by  tlie  ne- 
cessary stopping  at  the  several  sea-ports,  St.  Mary's, 
Darien,  and  Savannah,  he  was  enabled  to  make  the 
trip  in  the  almost  unparalleled  space  of  two  and 
a  half  days. 

Early  in  the  voyage.  Dr.  Gordon  penned  a  let- 
ter to  his  sister  in  Montgomery,  Alabama, — Mrs. 
Mcintosh,  mother  of  his  nephew  Harold,  who  had 
been  a  partaker  in  the  misfortune  of  his  children, — 
announcing  as  gently  and  hopefully  as  possible  the 


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298  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

sore  troubles  of  the  past  few  weeks,  and  begging 
her  to  put  her  affairs  in  order  for  leaving  home 
without  delay,  after  his  next  letter,  and  joining 
him  in  Charleston,  or  at  Tampa,  as  might  then  be 
specified.  This  letter  he  mailed  in  Savannah, 
promising  to  write  again  by  first  opportunity  after 
being  able  to  learn  what  was  desirable  in  the  case. 

On  reaching  Charleston,  he  was  greatly  relieved 
to  learn  that  Mrs.  Gordon  was  not  only  alive,  but 
much  more  calm  and  resigned,  although  still  almost 
crazed  with  grief  at  the  po&sible  loss  of  her  chil- 
dren. His  last  letter,  received  during  her  illness, 
and  at  a  moment  when  she  was  hopelessly  sinking 
under  her  sorrows,  had  communicated  intelligence 
so  much  more  definite  and  cheering,  that  she  be- 
gan instantly  to  rally,  and  was  now,  the  physician 
declared,  in  a  fair  way  to  recover. 

Her  large,  lustrous  eyes  flashed  with  joy  on  the 
entrance  of  her  husband,  and  before  a  word  was 
uttered  she  read  in  his  calm  countenance  the  gen- 
eral state  of  the  case. 

"Have  you  found  them?''  she  asked,  with  a 
wild,  yet  subdued  energy,  the  moment  she  was  able 
to  speak. 

"  Not  exactly,  but  almost,'*  he  replied,  smiling. 
"  We  were  so  near  as  to  see  their  fresh  tracks  and 
other  signs,  and  to  this  moment  I  cannot  under- 
stand how  we  missed  each  other." 

He  then  narrated,  in  cheerful  tone,  the  scene 


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MAliOONER' S  ISLAND.  299 

upon  the  island,  the  discovery  of  Frank's  hand- 
kerchief, the  flying  signal,  bearing  her  own  mark, 
the  traces  of  the  tent  under  the  oak,  the  bones  and 
shells,  and  other  evidences  of  good  living,  and  the 
tracks  leading  to  the  water,  where  they  had  evi- 
dently embarked.     He  concluded  by  saying,  — 

"  I  am  persuaded  they  left  the  island  on  their 
return  to  Tampa,  and  I  cannot  account  for  our  not 
overtaking  them  on  the  way,  or  not  finding  them 
at  Bellevue,  except  by  supposing  that,  in  seeking 
the  inside  passage  back,  they  had  lost  their  way  in 
some  of  the  many  creeks  and  inlets  that  entangle 
the.  coast.  They  were  evidently  safe  and  well 
two  days,  possibly  one  day,  before  my  visit  to  the 
island.'' 

Mrs.  Gordon  was  a  lady  of  great  gentleness  and 
sweetness  of  manner,  yet,  when  roused,  capable  of 
as  much  energy  and  resoluteness  as  was  suitable 
to  her  sex.  And  she  was  roused  now.  Reduced 
as  she  had  been  by  disease  and  distress,  unable 
even  yet  to  sit  alone,  she  expressed  her  resolution 
to  accompany  her  husband  on  the  first  vessel  that 
offered  passage  to  Tampa,  and  thence,  if  necessary, 
to  go  with  him  on  another  exploring  tour  down 
the  coast.  This  wild,  and  almost  maniacal,  resolve 
on  her  part,  caused  Dr.  Gordon  great  perplexity. 
He  could  see  in  it  nothing  but  embarrassment  to 
his  own  more  effective  movements,  but  well  know- 
ing the  uselessness  of  attempting  to  reason  with 


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300  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

a  mother  half  crazed  with  grief,  he  resolved  to 
yield,  as  far  as  possible,  to  her  desire,  and  to  make 
at  once  arrangements  for  carrying  it  out. 

He  then  wrote  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Mcintosh,  re- 
questing her  to  join  him  at  her  earliest  conve- 
nience at  Tampa,  prepared  for  an  indefinite  stay, 
and  putting  at  her  disposal  the  means  for  hiring, 
or,  if  necessary,  for  purchasing  a  small  sailing-ves- 
sel at  Mobile,  which  she  might  command  for  bring- 
ing her  direct  to  Tampa,  and  which  might  after- 
ward be  used  for  any  other  purpose. 

A  few  days  after  this  there  appeared  in  the  city 
papei*s  an  advertisement  of  a  vessel  prepared  to 
sail  in  a  short  time  for  New  Orleans,  with  the  ex- 
pectation of  stopping  at  several  points  upon  the 
Gulf  coast,  and  among  them  at  Tampa.  This  de- 
termined him  to  execute  his  plan  at  once,  for  Mrs. 
Gordon's  health  had  rapidly  improved  since  his 
return,  and  he  could  not  ask  for  a  more  hopeful 
means  of  farther  improvement  in  her  weak  state 
than  the  tranquillizing  influence  of  a  pleasant  sea 
voyage.  He,  therefore,  engaged  a  passage  for  her 
and  himself,  and  arranged  that  their  two  younger 
children  should  be  left  in  the  care  of  a  relative. 
A  third  letter  to  Mrs.  Mcintosh  announced  his 
expectation  of  speedy  departure,  and  gave  her  the 
names  of  several  parties  in  Mobile  to  whom  he 
had  written  to  look  out  for  her  a  suitable  and  trust- 
worthy person  as  sailing-master. 


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MAROONER' S  ISLAND,  301 

The  day  before  Dr.  Gordon  embarked  he  was 
pained  to  receive  a  letter  from  his  cousin,  Major 
Burke,  informing  him  that  up  to  the  date  of  writ- 
ing no  tidings  had  been  obtained  from  the  missing 
company  of  juveniles.  He  said  nothing  of  this 
to  Mrs.  Gordon,  hoping  to  hear  better  things  on 
his  arrival  at  Tampa,  and  relying  greatly  upon 
her  improvement  in  health  during  the  voyage  to 
enable  her  to  sustain  the  disappointment  if  the 
young  people  should  not  by  that  tjme  have  arrived  ; 
but  the  intelligence  had  an  irresistibly  depressing 
effect  upon  his  own  feelings.  "  What  could  have 
become  of  them  after  leaving  the  island  ? ''  was  a 
question  constantly  recurring,  and  never  satisfac- 
torily answered.  It  was,  therefore,  with  unfeigned 
delight  that  he  hailed  the  hour  of  his  departure, 
and  that  he  watched  the  steady  progress  of  the 
vessel  as  she  ploughed  her  prosperous  way  from 
the  beautiful  harbor  he  left, to  the  still  more  beau- 
tiful one  he  sought. 

On  coming  abreast  of  Bellevue,  where  the  ves- 
sel lay  to,  before  passing  on  to  the  town  and  the 
fort.  Dr.  Gordon  asked  to  be  taken  ashore.  For 
prudential  reasons  he  chose  to  go  alone.  Besides 
apprising  the  servants  of  Mrs.  Gordon's  arrival, 
he  wished  to  learn  whether  the  young  people  had 
returned,  and  fes^ring  the  effect  upon  his  wife  of 
the  dreaded  disappointment,  he  preferred  to  be 
able,  in  case  of  need,  to  convey  her  directly  to  the 


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302  MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

fort,  where  she  would  have  the  cheering  presence 
of  her  cousin,  and  the  medical  aid  of  the  surgeon 
who  had  so  skilfully  treated  his  own  case. 

Ere  the  yawl  had  pulled  over  half  the  distance, 
Judy,  Peter,  and  William  were  at  the  landing 
ready  to  welcome  him,  and  he  knew  by  the  ab- 
sence of  other  figures  from  the  group  that  he  must 
prepare  himself  for  evil  tidings.  On  asking  Judy 
if  anything  had  been  heard  from  the  young  peo- 
ple, her  reply  w^as, — 

"  Not  one  wud,  my  dear  mossa !  Not  one  wud, 
sept  w'at  you  bring  yo'self,  long  time  ago/' 

With  heavy  heart  he  returned  to  the  vessel, 
picturing  to  himself  the  scene  of  anguish  he  was 
destined  to  behold,  and  taxing  his  medical  know- 
ledge for  the  means  necessary  to  relief.  To  his 
surprise,  no  less  than  to  liis  joy,  he  discovered 
that  Mrs.  Gordon  bore  the  disappointment  with 
great  equanimity ;  a  few  natural  tears  attested  her 
sorrow,  but  she  soon  began  to  act  the  unexpected 
part  of  comforter  to  himself.  Dr.  Gordon  was 
first  astonished,  then  alarmed ;  he  feared  that  his 
wife  was  exhibiting  the  horrid  composure  of  in- 
sanity. Some  days  afterward,  however,  observ- 
ing no  other  indications  of  an  unsettled  mind,  and 
inquiring  whether  there  had  been  anything  to 
prepare  her  for  this  disappointment,  she  replied, 
with  a  sweet,  submissive  smile, — 

"  Yes ;  all  through  the  voyage  I  made  it  a  re- 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  303 

ligious  duty,  day  after  day,  to  try  and  say  with 
sincerity,  ^  Not  my  will,  but  thine,  O  Lord,  be 
done ! '  I  think,  too,  that  you  yourself  helped  me 
in  a  way  that  you  did  not  intend  or  suspect.  Your 
occasional  seasons  of  sadness,  and  your  carefully 
worded  language  while  endeavoring  to  speak  hope- 
fully, all  tended  to  persuade  me  that  something 
weighed  heavily  upon  your  own  heart.  I,  there- 
fore, made  up  my  mind,  as  otherwise  I  probably 
should  not,  to  prepare,  if  possible,  for  the  worst. 
And  now,  my  dear  husband,  I  am  ready  to  join 
you  in  thanking  God  that,  although  called  to 
grieve  over  the  absence  of  our  children,  we  have 
no  right  yet  to  grieve  over  their  loss.'' 

This  language  instantly  relieved  Dr.  Gordon 
of  all  fears  as  to  his  wife's  saneness,  and  awakened 
in  him  a  higher  respect  for  her  than  ever  before. 
It  proved  that  she  was  a  woman  who  could  be  as 
heroic  in  suflfering  as  a  man  was  bound  to  be  in 
action. 

When  the  vessel  resumed  her  voyage  from  Bel- 
levue,  it  came  to  anchor  first  at  the  fort,  then  at 
the  town.  Dr.  Gordon  w^as  anxious  to  obtain  from 
his  cousin  all  the  intelligence  of  his  children  re- 
ceived during  his  absence,  and  to  determine  as 
quickly  as  possible  what  more  could  be  attempted 
on  their  behalf.  To  his  disquiet,  and  indeed  his 
distress,  he  learned  that  none  had  been  obtained, 
not  a  word,  nor  even  a  sign,  since  hrs  own  tour. 


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304  MAJiOONER'  S  ISLAND. 

It  seemed  to  him  as  if  the  sensible  remark  of  the 
Indian  hunter  at  Cape  Sable  possessed  an  almost 
prophetic  significance :  "  If  the  father  of  the  mis- 
sing children  has  looked  for  them  thus  far  in  vain, 
no  one  else  need  try." 

His  fears  that  a  renewed  distress  would  soon 
prey  upon  the  yet  feeble  health  of  his  wife  was 
just  beginning  to  be  realized,  when  a  small  but 
graceful  little  vessel  moved  swiftly  in  from  the 
distant  bar.  It  was  a  pilot  boat.  Besides  two 
white  men  aboard,  who  were  evidently  sailors, 
there  was  a  lady  sitting  on  the  scanty  after  deck, 
with  a  small  black  servant  beside  her,  while  an 
elderly  Indian  leaned  against  the  mast,  and  seemed 
to  exchange  words  with  her.  A  glance  through 
tlie  spy-glass  informed  Dr.  Gordon  that  the  lady 
was  his  expected  sister,  Mrs.  Mcintosh ;  he,  there- 
fore, waved  a  signal  with  his  handkerchief,  and 
pointed  to  a  temporary  wharf  erected  by  him  at  a 
place  convenient  for  landing. 

The  joy  of  meeting  a  dearly  beloved  sister  was, 
however,  miserably  dashed  with  the  dread  of 
making  to  her  that  unsatisfactory  report  of  the 
missing  ones,  which  was  all  that  he  had  to  give. 
Her  first  inquiry,  after  salutation,  was  on  tliat 
point,  of  course,  and  he  replied  by  telling  her  the 
truth,  though  in  as  hopeful  a  light  as  he  could. 
She  bore  the  disappointment  with  all  the  quietness 
that  might  be  expected  of  a  woman  strong  both  in 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  305 

mind  and  heart,  and  ere  they  reached  the  house 
she  was  ready  to  unit€  with  him  in  trying  to  cheer 
the  drooping  spirit  of  her  sister-in-law. 

"  Who  are  those  you  have  aboard  ?''  asked  he, 
soon  after  the  first  inquiries  on  both  sides  had  been 
disposed  of.    "  I  see  two  white  men  and  an  Indian." 

"  One  of  the  white  men  is  the  owner  of  the 
boat,  a  Scotchman,  by  name  of  Dunbar,"  she  re- 
plied ;  ^^  the  other  is  a  hired  man,  who  wishes  to 
stop  at  Tampa.  The  Indian  is  an  old  neighbor 
of  ours,  and  a  firm  friend  of  Harold's." 

^*  What !  old  Torgah  ?  "  asked  Dr.  Gordon. 

"  Yes,"  she  replied ;  "  but  how  do  you  know 
anything  of  him?" 

"  Through  Harold  himself,  who  took  me  to  see 
him  the  last  time  I  made  you  a  visit,"  Dr.  Gor- 
don said ;  "  and  besides,  Harold  has  so  often  men- 
tioned his  name  since  his  stay  with  me,  that  it  has 
become  quite  a  household  word.  I  judge  from 
what  he  says  that  old  Torgah  must  be  a  shrewd 
hunter,  as  well  as  faithfuV  friend." 

"  There  was  no  keeping  him  back  when  he 
heard  of  Harold's  misfortune,"  added  Mrs.  Mcin- 
tosh. "  He  begged  only  to  be  brought  to  Tampa, 
and  to  be  told  where  the  young  folks  were  last 
seen,  saying  that  he  had  friends  among  the  Uchees 
and  Yemassees  of  these  parts,  who  would  help 
him,  and  that  he  himself  used  to  be  familiar  with 

the  coast." 

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306  MAROOXER'S  ISLAND. 

"  I  am  glad  you  brought  him/'  said  Dr.  Gor- 
don, "  and  have  no  doubt  he  will  be  useful/' 

"  He  was  dreadfully  sea-sick  on  the  voyage/' 
Mrs.  Mcintosh  continued,  "  and  says  he  will  never 
put  his  foot  on  a  vessel's  deck  again  ;  but  that  if 
you  will  only  tell  him  which  way  to  go  he  will  set 
off  to-morrow." 

Torgah  was  immediately  relieved  from  his 
weariness  of  the  vessel  by  being  called  ashore  and 
assigned  quarters  in  an  outer  room  of  the  premi- 
ses, with  the  promise  that  he  should  soon  have  the 
opportunity  he  desired  ;  and  word  was  sent  to  So- 
massee  to  come  as  soon  as  possible  in  one  of  the 
canoes,  prepared  to  go  with  his  newly  arrived 
countryman,  an  Alabama  Indian,  on  another  ex- 
ploring tour. 

There  was  not  the  delay  of  a  day,  or  of  an  hour, 
on  any  one's  part  in  the  needful  preparations. 
Even  Mrs.  Gordon,  who  had  previously  been  so 
feeble,  but  whose  health  and  spirits  seemed  to  re- 
vive with  the  coming  of  her  sister-in-law,  and 
with  the  prospect  of  an  immediate  effort,  declared 
that  she  was  able  and  ready  to  leave  the  very  next 
day.  It  was  Wednesday,  February  2d,  when  these 
preparations  were  commenced,  and  so  vigorously 
were  they  pushed  forward  in  the  work  necessary 
aboard,  as  well  as  ashore,  that  by  Friday,  Feb. 
4th,  all  was  ready  for  departure. 


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CHAPTER  XXVI. 


LEAVING  PORT— THE  GREW—  PANCHETA  —  MAHTN- 
LO—THE  FLYING  SIGNAL  AGAIN— PILOT  DUN- 
BAR AND  THE  SEA-BIRD— SIGNAL  BY  GANNON  — 
THE  OMINOUS  SCUD— SUDDEN  GALE  —  OMINOUS 
SOUNDS  —  OMINOUS  SILENCE  —  DREADFUL  DIS- 
CO VER  Y—  DA  YLIGHT  AND  DELIVERANCE. 

^UT  who,  at  that  day,  ever  heard  of  a 
vessel  leaving  port  on  Friday  ?  No,  no ; 
Pilot  Dunbar  was  too  much  of  a  sailor, 
(to  say  nothing  of  his  being  a  Scot<^h- 
man,  too,)  to  think  of  such  a  thing.  It  was  far 
more  sailor-like  to  risk  the  displeasure  of  God  by 
weighing  anchor  on  Sunday,  than  to  risk  ill-luck 
by  starting  on  Friday ;  for  the  sailor-rule  in  com- 
mon use  was,  "  The  better  the  day,  the  better  tiie 
deed.'' 

The  sentiments  of  the  cabin,  however,  differed 
from  those  of  the  forecastle ;  and  it  so  turned  out 
that,  as  Pilot  Dunbar  would  not  leave  port  on 
Friday,  and  Saturday  was  too  wet  and  stormy  to 
permit  the  going  out  of  an  invalid  passenger,  and 

au7 


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308  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

as  Dr.  Gordon  held  the  Sabbath  in  too  high  es- 
teem to  desecrate  it  without  necessity,  they  did  not 
leave  port  until  Monday. 

The  crew  consisted  of  Pilot  Dunbar,  sailing- 
master,  and  Dr.  Gordon,  his  assistant.  Peter,  who 
had  learned  from  his  expert  wife,  Judy,  many  of 
the  arts  of  culinary  life,  and  who  could  make  an 
excellent  pot  of  coffee,  and  a  very  eatable  biscuit, 
was  installed  as  cook,  though,  being  somewhat  of 
a  sailor,  part  of  his  time  was  spent  in  handling 
the  ropes.  Torgah  and  Somassee,  who  had  ab- 
jured the  deck,  and  who  occupied  the  canoe  fas- 
tened astern  by  a  long,  light  hawser,  were  not  a 
part  of  the  crew — they  were  outside  passengers, 
ready  to  aid  in  any  service  requiring  the  use  of 
the  paddle. 

A  light  breeze  curled  the  surface  of  the  bay,  and 
the  little  vessel,  on  being  loosed  from  her  moor- 
ings, stretched  her  wings,  and  seemed  to  career 
joyously  over  the  water,  like  a  thing  of  life  re- 
leased from  weary  confinement. 

The  first  pause  they  made  was  at  Riley's  Island, 
where  Dr.  Gordon  went  ashore  to  see  Pancheta, 
and  to  inquire  if  she  had  received  any  intelligence 
of  her  husband.  Pancheta  was  quite  cordial,  and, 
for  an  Indian  woman,  was  communicative  on  every 
subject  except  that  in  which  he  felt  the  deepest 
interest ;  but  on  the  subject  of  her  husband  she 
was  mysteriously  reserved.     Dr.  Gordon  gathered 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  309 

from  her  various  hints,  dropped  as  if  they  were 
contraband,  that  she  expected  her  husband  back 
during  the  light  of  the  next  moon,  and  that  it  was 
possible  he  might  return  in  company  with  the 
young  people;  but  where  he  was  detained,  and 
why,  and  at  what  place  the  young  people  were  to 
be  found,  were  points  on  which  all  his  power  of 
questioning  could  gain  nothing.  Perhaps  she  her- 
self did  not  know ;  and  with  this  hopeful,  but  un- 
satisfactory information,  he  returned  to  the  pilot 
boat.  The  thought  did  not  occur  to  him  until 
after  he  had  left  the  island  that  the  cause  of  her 
reserve  might  be  something  of  a  national  charac- 
ter, and  that  Torgah  and  Somassee  would,  in  that 
event,  probably  be  more  successful  than  himself. 

That  evening  they  came  to  anchor  in  Manatee 
Bay,  where  the  ladies  enjoyed  the  exceeding  soft- 
ness of  the  light  upon  the  woodland,  and  the  pla- 
cid beauty  of  the  water.  Next  morning  they 
sailed  a  few  miles  up  the  river,  that  no  place 
might  be  left  unexplored  where  it  was  possible  for 
the  young  people  to  have  been  detained.  Somas- 
see and  Torgah,  also,  paddled  ashore  at  every 
point  where  there  was  the  sign  of  habitation,  for 
the  purpose  of  making  inquiry. 

Thus  they  continued  down  the  coast,  entering 
every  inlet  and  creek,  examining  carefully  every 
island  and  wooded  key,  inquiring  of  every  person 
whom  Torgah  and  Somassee  could  find,  and  occa- 


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310  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

sionally  firing  a  little  cannon  which  Dr.  Gordon 
had  put  aboard  as  a  means  of  calling  attention  at 
a  distance,  until  finally  Torgah  came  with  a  re- 
quest that  he  might  be  allowed  to  go  a  few  hours' 
journey  into  the  interior,  promising  to  return  early 
the  next  day.  He  said  that  an  old  wise  man, 
named  Mahinlo,  an  old-time  friend  of  his,  lived 
in  those  parts,  and  he  wished  to  consult  him ;  that 
Mahinlo,  in  early  life,  had  been  a  famous  warrior, 
but  was  now  a  "  chief  and  brave  of  the  Great 
Spirit ; "  *  that  he  knew  more,  and  could  tell  more 
of  what  M^as  going  on  in  the  world  than  all  the 
other  red  men  put  together,  and  that  if  any  per- 
son in  the  nation  knew  anything  of  the  young 
people,  that  person  was  Mahinlo.  He  proposed, 
therefore,  to  make  him  a  visit,  with  a  suitable  pres- 
ent, as  was  customary,  and  to  gain  from  him  what- 
ever information  was  to  be  had.  This  proposition 
so  exactly  suited  the  desires  of  Dr.  Gordon,  that 
although  he  was  now  within  a  few  hours'  sail  of 
the  island  where  he  had  seen  the  laat  traces  of  his 
children,  and  he  longed  to  reach  the  spot  and  look 
again,  he  consented  to  the  absence  of  the  canoe 
with  the  two  red  men  for  the  night,  appointing  to 
meet  them  in  the  morning  at  the  next  island. 

Late  in  the  evening,  when  the  light  of  day  was 
fading  into  deep  dusk,  and  allowing  only  a  faint 
view  of  distant  objects,  the  little  vessel  entered  a 
*  A  religious  teacher. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  311 

river-like  inlet,  and  came  to  anchor  in  a  broad 
sheet  of  two  fathoms  water,  open  indeed  to  the 
sea,  but  calm  and  placid  as  Tampa  or  Manatee. 
Dimly  visible,  at  a  point  next  the  sea,  but  made 
quite  distinct  by  the  aid  of  the  spy-glass,  was  the 
flying  signal,  which,  though  wrapped  mostly  around 
the  staff,  had  still  a  portion  floating  in  the  breeze. 
This  he  pointed  out  to  Mrs.  Gordon  and  his  sis- 
ter, who  looked  with  tearful  interest  upon  what 
brought  them  more  sensibly  near  the  objects  of 
their  anxiety  than  ever  they  had  been  before. 

"  Yonder,''  said  he,  "  under  that  grand  old  tree, 
they  pitched  their  tent.  And  yonder,  where  you 
may  see  the  drift  collected  against  some  short 
stakes  driven  into  the  sand,  was  their  spring  of 
water,  all  surrounded  with  their  tracks.  And 
there,  upon  the  beach,  marked  by  a  fallen  tree-top, 
was  the  place  where  they  embarked,  and  where 
they  left  the  last  signs  that  we  could  discover.  It 
is  possible  that  some  of  the  footprints  may  still  be 
seen.'' 

The  sight,  dim  though  it  was,  of  the  places  last 
trodden  by  their  children,  brought  mingled  joy 
and  sorrow  to  the  hearts  of  the  mother,  and  Dr. 
Gordon's  own  voice  trembled  with  emotion  as  he 
added,  — 

"  Yes,  if  Providence  permit,  we  will  go  ashore 
at  our  first  possible  moment  in  the  morning,  and 
I  will  examine  every  spot  on  the  island,  not  ex- 


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312  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

plored  before,  that  can  furnish  any  clue  to  their 
mysterious  disappearance.  In  the  meantime,  if 
you  will  prepare  your  ears  against  the  shock,  I 
will  give  our  usual  signal  by  cannon.'' 

As  he  said  this,  he  looked  at  Dunbar,  who  had 
been  steadfastly  watching  the  heavens,  and  whose 
face  had  assumed  an  expression  of  deep  anxiety. 

"  What  do  you  see  in  that  bright  moon  to  make 
you  look  at  it  so  earnestly?"  Dr.  Gordon  asked 
of  him. 

"Trouble,''  answered  the  sailor,  "if  I  am  a 
judge  of  weather.  Just  look  at  that  scud !  It 
has  gathered  within  the  last  two  minutes.  Did 
you  ever  see  anything  run  so  fast  ?  " 

The  moon  was  at  the  half  full  and  directly  over- 
head. Across  her  brilliant  face  a  light,  vapory 
cloud,  that  increased  every  moment  in  density, 
was  rushing  with  such  velocity  as  to  make  one 
think  of  sea-birds  hastening  in  terror  from  the 
water  to  a  refuge  on  the  land. 

"  It  looks  verily  as  if  we  are  to  have  a  squall, 
or  something  worse,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "  and  sorry 
I  am  that  you  have  no  better  help  for  managing 
your  pretty  little  Sea-bird  than  Pete  and  myself. 
But  what  we  can  do  you  must  not  hesitate  to  call 
for." 

"  The  Sea-bird  needs  little  help.  She  can  almost 
manage  herself,"  replied  the  enthusiastic  old  tar, 
looking  with  pride  and  affection  upon  his  trimly 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  313 

built  craft.  "  But  it  will  do  no  harm  to  tighten  up  a 
little." 

"So  do,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "and  while  you 
are  engaged  in  that  I  will  go  and  give  my  signal." 

The  gathering  darkness  was  quickly  illumined 
by  a  red  glare,  and  the  timbers  of  the  vessel  quiv- 
ered with  a  thundering  discharge.  A  minute  af- 
terward the  discharge  was  repeated,  and  then  Dr. 
Gordon  returned  to  aid  Dunbar  and  Peter  in  trim- 
ming the  vessel  to  meet  the  coming  gale. 

"  We  have  no  time  to  lose,"  said  the  sailor 
anxiously.  "  The  ladies  will  find  it  safer  below. 
The  squall  will  be  upon  us  in  two  minutes." 

While  Mrs.  Mcintosh  aided  her  sister  down  the 
narrow  companion-way,  the  Doctor  and  the  others 
worked  vigorously  in  making  all  snug.  They  had 
barely  completed  their  task,  and  the  vessel  was 
slowly  swinging  round  with  the  tide,  when  the 
distant  moan  of  the  sea,  which  had  rapidly  changed 
into  a  roar,  began  to  sound  like  the  increasing 
rumble  of  thunder,  and  at  the  same  time  a  fierce 
and  sudden  blast  of  wind  came  with  such  force 
upon  the  broadside  of  the  vessel  as  almost  to  lay 
her  upon  her  beam  ends.  She  rose,  however,  as 
gracefully  as  she  had  bowed,  set  her  face  sharp  to 
the .  wind,  and  gave  a  straining  pull  upon  her 
cable. 

"  All  safe  now,  unless  she  drags,"  said  Dunbar. 
"  We  have  good  water  and  a  good  bottom." 


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311  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"  Also  .a  good  vessel  and  good  pilot,"  added  Dr. 
Gordon,  with  a  laugh. 

"  A  ^ood  vessel,  aye,  aye  ! "  Dunbar  responded, 
"  and  if  a  good  pilot,  he  would  take  the  liberty  to 
say  that  the  best  place  for  you,  too,  is  where  the 
ladies  have  gone.  It  will  soon  be  too  rough  for 
anybody  on  deck,  except  an  old  salt  like  me." 

Dr.  Gordon  was  in  the  act  of  going  below  when 
he  turned  suddenly  toward  Dunbar,  grasped  him 
almost  spasmodically  by  the  shoulder,  and  with 
much  earnestness  asked, — 

"Did  you  hear  that?" 

"  I  heard  something  like  a  cannon,  but  whether 
from  land  or  sea  I  could  not  say,"  he  replied  ; 
"  nor  was  I  certain  whether  it  was  the  sound  of  a 
cannon,  or  of  the  surf  bursting  over  the  bar." 

"  Peter,  did  you  hear  it?"  he  then  inquired  of 
his  servant. 

"  Yes,  mossa,  I  yerry  good,"  Peter  answered. 
"  Cannon  from  land,  sir." 

"  Then  it  is  from  my  children,"  he  said,  with 
strong  emotion,  "though  they  have  had  barely  time 
to  load  and  fire  since  they  heard  my  signal.  At 
least,"  he  continued,  moderating  in  his  excitement 
by  a  second  thought,  "  that  gun  from  shore  seeiTis 
to  have  been  a  reply  to  mine  from  sea." 

With  the  great  addition  to  his  hopes,  furnished 
by  the  supposed  reply  to  his  signal,  Dr.  Gordon 
passed  into  the  little  cabin,  reporting  to  the  two 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  315 

mothers  the  fact  of  the  answer  by  cannon,  and 
making  their  hearts  as  glad  as  his  own.  They  dis- 
cussed fully  and  at  length  the  probabilities  of  the 
case,  and  concluded  by  convincing  themselves  that 
their  long  and  trying  season  of  suspense  was  about 
to  have  a  joyful  termination. 

Ere  they  were  half  way  through  their  discussion, 
however,  they  were  made  aware  that  a  storm  of 
unusual  violence,  as  well  as  suddenness,  was  upon 
them.  Their  little  craft  rose  and  fell,  and  leaped 
and  plunged,  and  seemed  tortured  almost  to  mad- 
ness by  its  confinement  by  cable  amid  the  rush  and 
tumble  of  the  waters.  Rain  was  soon  added  to 
the  wind.  It  came  in  great  drops,  not  falling,  but 
shooting  horizontally,  like  shot  projected  from  a 
gun. 

Every  now  and  then  Dr.  Gordon  would  ascend 
the  short  and  narrow  stairway  leading  to  the  deck, 
carefully  open  the  door,  and  peep  out  to  watch  the 
progress  of  the  storm,  then  return  and  report  the 
result  of  his  observations.  In  course  of  time,  the 
billows,  which  had  become  mixed  with  mire  and 
dirt  by  passing  over  the  shoals,  attained  such  mag- 
nitude as  to  burst  repeatedly  over  the  deck,  and 
to  enter  every  exposed  place,  compelling  him  to 
desist  from  his  observations,  find  not  only  to  keep 
the  door  closed,  but  even  to  caulk  its  crevices.  In 
this  state  of  confinement,  several  hours  passed  away, 
when  a  startling  crash  caused  Dr.  Gordon  to  ex- 
claim,— 


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316  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"  There  goes  our  mast !  ^' 

And  not  long  afterward  a  still  more  ominous 
sound  was  heard  —  a  harsh  grating  at  the  stern. 
The  little  vessel  had  been  forced  from  her  moor- 
ings by  the  heavy  dash  of  the  waves,  had  dragged 
her  anchor,  and  been  drifted,  stern  foremost,  against 
a  ledge  of  that  kind  of  rock  *  which  underlies  the 
greater  part  of  peninsular  Florida. 

The  sound  of  the  grating  stern,  and  afterward 
of  the  grating  keel,  as  the  boat  was  gradually 
forced  around  and  thrown  broadside  upon  the  rock 
was  dreadful.  The  ladies  looked  to  Dr.  Gordon 
for  comfort,  but  for  a  long  time  they  could  not 
catch  his  eye ;  he  looked  persistently  down,  and 
his  face  was  full  of  anxiety.  They  were,  however, 
brave  women  —  their  faces  were  blanched,  but  they 
uttered  no  words  of  fear.  They  braced  themselves 
to  meet  their  fate,  whatever  it  might  be,  with  be- 
coming composure.  Yet,  oh !  how  hard  was  it  to 
think  of  perishing  almost  within  hail  of  those 
dear  ones  whom  they  had  come  so  far  to  rescue ! 

At  the  suggestion  of  his  sister.  Dr.  Gordon 
opened  his  Bible,  and,  by  the  dim  light  of  the  cabin 
lamp,  read  the  130th  Psalm,  beginning,  "  Out  of 

*  This  rock,  if  such  it  may  be  caUed,  since  it  is  so  soft  as 
to  be  easily  cut  with  an  axe  or  saw,  is  composed  of  sheUs, 
in  every  stage  of  disintegretion,  imbedded  in  a  mortar  made 
of  its  own  detritus,  mixed  with  sand,  and  is  capable  of  great 
induration  after  exposure  to  the  air. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  317 

the  depths  have  I  cried  unto  Thee,  O  Lord!'' 
Then  they  knelt  down,  as  well  as  they  could,  and 
he  led  them  in  an  earnest,  submissive  prayer  for 
themselves  and  for  the  loved  ones  constituting 
their  more  immediate  world;  after  which  they 
took  courage  and  spoke  together  more  freely  of 
their  condition  and  prospects. 

"  We  can  do  nothing  but  wait,  and  prepare  our- 
selves for  whatever  may  betide,^'  said  he.  "  We 
are  perfectly  in  the  Lord's  hands,  to  do  with  us  as 
He  will ;  not  more  so  now  than  we  have  ever  been, 
only  we  feel  it  moreJ^ 

He  paused,  then  suddenly  added,  "  But  I  won- 
der that  we  have  heard  nothing  all  this  time  from 
Dunbar  and  Peter.  They  might  easily  have  hailed 
us  through  the  partition.     I  will  call  to  them/' 

He  went  to  the  temporary  wall  of  plank  erected 
to  afford  privacy  to  the  cabin,  gave  some  vigorous 
knocks,  and  called  aloud,  but  no  answer  came  iu 
return. 

"Can  they  be  on  deck?"  he  asked.  "I  will 
look.'' 

The  little  vessel  was  now  leaning  so  much  to 
leeward  that  the  waves  striking  against  the  keel 
and  the  exposed  bottom  were  broken,  and  did  not 
threaten  the  companionway  as  before.  Dr.  Gor- 
don carefully  opened  the  little  door  and  peeped 
out.  The  wind  howled  horribly,  and  all  around 
was  pitchy  dark,  except  the  phosphorescence  of  tlie 


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318  MAROOXER'S  ISLAND. 

water,  which  shone  in  spots,  as  if  torclies  were 
lighted  there.  He  peered  narrowly  along  the  slop- 
ing'deck.  Nobody  was  visible.  He  shouted  at 
the  top  of  his  voice,  "Dunbar!  Peter!"  but 
there  was  no  reply.  The  horrible  truth  forced 
itself  upon  him,  that  they  had  been  washed  over- 
board and  lost. 

With  this  painful  conviction  came  also  the 
thought  of  danger  by  lack  of  their  services.  Who 
was  to  close  the  hatchway  to  the  forecastle  ?  Was 
it  closed  ?  If  open,  was  not  the  vessel  in  immi- 
nent danger  of  filling  ?  It  was  necessary  instantly, 
and  at  all  risks,  to  see  that  it  was  closed.  Possi- 
bly, too,  by  going  there  he  might  learn  what  had 
befallen  the  men. 

He  returned  to  the  cabin,  took  from  a  drawer 
a  small  halyard,*  ten  or  twelve  yards  long ;  fas- 
tened one  end  of  it  to  his  waist,  and  the  other  end 
to  a  strong  hook  near  the  door,  keeping  the  inter- 
vening length  coiled  in  his  hand,  ready  to  be  let 
out  at  will ;  then  called  his  sister  to  take  her  place 
at  the  doorway,  ready  to  render  assistance  in  case 
of  need.  With  these  helps  to  his  safety,  he  clam- 
bered cautiously  along  the  sloping  deck,  support- 
ing himself  by  every  available  means,  until  he  ar- 
rived at  the  intended  point.     The  hatch  was  not 

*  Halyards  (literally  haulyards,  though  sometimes  spelled 
halliards)  are  ropes  by  which  yards,  sails,  or  signals  are 
hoisted. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  319 

closed.  It  seemed  as  if  left  with  the  expectation 
of  immediate  return,  and  fortunately  it  was  so 
guarded  that  the  billows  which  dashed  along  the 
deck  were  diverted  from  entering.  Here  Dr.  Gor- 
don stooped  and  called  aloud.  All  was  silent. 
He  entered,  lighted  a  match,  and  looked  around. 
A  little  puddle  of  water  was  collected  at  one  side. 
Dunbar's  coat  was  hanging  on  a  nail,  and  Peter's 
hat  lay  on  his  berth  ;  but  the  owners  of  them  were 
not  there. 

Dr.  Gordon  made  the  hatch  as  secure  as  possi- 
ble, and  worked  his  way  back  to  the  cabin  door 
without  accident,  but  with  great  sinking  of  heart. 
Besides  the  shock  naturally  felt  in  view  of  sudden 
death  near  at  hand,  arose  the  reflections :  How  are 
Ave  to  pass  from  the  wreck  to  the  shore  ?  and  how 
from  that  to  Tampa  ?  Instead  of  being  able  to 
help  our  children,  in  the  event  of  their  being  found, 
we  ourselves  shall  be  in  need  of  help. 

On  his  return  to  the  cabin,  his  first  duty  was  to 
reply  to  the  inquiries  made  of  him  concerning  the 
men  and  the  state  of  the  vessel.  He  attempted  no 
concealment,  acknowledging  the  whole  truth,  that 
their  little  vessel  was  stranded ;  that  the  two  men 
were  no  doubt  lost,  and  that  there  were  no  means 
at  hand  for  delivering  themselves  from  their  pres- 
ent situation. 

When  a  man  has  done  all  that  he  can,  and  failed, 
he  is  apt  to  sink  into  gloomy  apathy.     With  wo- 


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320  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

man  it  is  different;  man's  time  of  despair  is  her 
season  of  hope.  She  will  find  a  bright  side  where 
a  man  sees  nothing  but  darkness.  The  sexes  were 
made  for  each  other. 

"  Do  you  not  expect  the  canoe  in  the  morning 
with  Torgah  and  Somassee?"  asked  Mrs.  Mcin- 
tosh, on  seeing  her  brother's  despondency. 

"  I  do,"  he  replied,  "  and  we  may  therefore  hope 
for  deliverance,  if  our  craft  can  stand  till  then  this 
beating  of  the  surf,  and  this  grinding  upon  the 
rock." 

"  But  the  violence  of  the  gale  is  over,  is  it  not  ?  " 
asked  Mrs.  Gordon.  "  I  think  the  roar  of  the 
winds  is  not  so  great,  nor  the  beating  of  the 
waves." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Dr.  Gordon.  "  We  will, 
therefore,  hope  for  the  best,  and  not  trouble  our- 
selves unnecessarily  with  what  we  cannot  help." 

With  this  philosophic  resolve,  in  many  cases 
more  easily  made  than  kept,  they  immediately  com- 
menced a  cheerful  conversation;  then  drawing  the 
door  close,  and  caulking  the  crevices  as  before,  each 
sought  such  repose  as  was  possible.  More  than 
once  during  the  night  Dr.  Gordon  opened  care- 
fully the  little  door  to  look  out  upon  the  storm, 
when  finding  it  greatly  abated,  he  at  last  gave 
himself  up  to  the  refreshment  of  .sleep. 

The  light  of  day  comes  slowly  when  the  gates 
of  the  east  are  banked  with  clouds,  and  more  es- 


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MAROONER'S    ISLAND.  321 

pecially  to  those  who  have  carefully  closed  every 
crevice  through  ^hich  it  can  enter.  Weary  with 
care  and  watchfulness,  the  shipwrecked  company, 
released  from  anxiety,  sank  into  a  sleep  which 
held  them  until  long  after  the  sun  had  broken 
through  the  now  dispersing  clouds.  They  were 
awakened  by  hearing  a  gentle  thump  against  the 
vessel's  deck,  as  of  some  one  trying  to  get  in.  Mrs. 
Mcintosh  was  about  to  say,  "  Brother,  aw^ake ! 
the  canoe  has  come ! ''  when  she  heard  a  soft  halloo 
that  thrilled  her  very  soul.  The  tone  was  in  some 
respects  strange,  yet  it  sounded  familiar  as  the 
beating  of  her  own  heart.  There  was  no  mis- 
taking the  voice  that  asked,  hoarse  with  emotion, 
"Is  any  one  within?" 

Mrs.  Mcintosh  answered,  "Yes,  but  who  is 
there?" 

The  person  without  said  something  which  could 
not  be  distinctly  heard,  but  w^hich  sounded  faintly 
like  the  name  of  her  own  son ;  then  another  voice 
took  up  the  answer  and  said,  — 

"  Harold— Harold  and  Robert." 

For  a  moment  Mrs.  Mcintosh  made  no  reply, 
nor  did  Dr.  Gordon,  who  now  stood  by  her  side, 
with  his  hands  clasped,  and  his  lips  moving  in 
momentary  prayer.  As  for  Mrs.  Gordon,  she  had 
attempted  to  rush  forward,  but  had  sunk  to  the 
floor  insensible.  Recovering  his  self-possession, 
Dr.  Gordon  motioned  his  sister  to  attend  to  his 
V 


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322  MARO  OXER'S   ISLAND 

prostrate  wife,  while  he  went  to  the  barred  door, 
undid  its  fastenings,  and  let  in  the  new  comers. 

Oh !  the  joy,  the  joy  pervading  the  dark  room 
of  that  stranded  and  almost  broken  vessel !  Mrs. 
Mcintosh  received  into  her  arms  a  son,  almost  a 
man,  a  noble  expansion  of  the  boy  who  left  her 
less  than  a  year  before ;  ajid  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon 
were  rejoicing  in  the  embraces  of  one  whom  they 
had  almost  despaired  of  seeing  again,  but  in 
whom  they  could  now  rejoice  as  both  son  and  de- 
liverer. 


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CHAPTER  XXVI L 

BREAKFAST  UNDER  AN  ORANGE-TREE— MAROON 
ERS"  HOME -^  THE  MAROONERS  THEMSELVES-^ 
PREPARING  TO  RECOVER  THE  LOST  BOAT— DUCKS, 
FISH,  ETC  — LOOK  FOR  BOAT— THE  STRANDED 
VESSEL  — MYSTERIOUS  SIGN— CAN  WE  LAUNCH 
HER?  AND  HOW?— MECHANICAL  RULE. 


N  the  morning  of  the  second  day  after 
the  deliverance  recorded  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter,  a  happy  group  assembled 
round  the  breakfast-table  of  the  Young 
Marooners.  It  was  under  the  fragrant  canopy 
of  a  large  orange-tree,*  of  which  there  were  many 
growing  wild  upon  the  island,  and  even  at  this 
late  date  were  loaded  with  luscious-looking  fruit. 
Its  pure  white  blossoms,  interspersed  with  the  tiny 
green  bulbs  of  the  coming  crop,  and  the  golden 

*The  hitter-sweet  —  so  called  because  its  juicy  cells,  though 
almost  rivalling  in  sweetness  the  oranges  of  Sicily,  are  envel- 
oped in  a  membrane  and  rind  of  great  bitterness.  Whether 
indigenous  to  the  soil  of  peninsular  Florida,  or  introduced  by 
some  preceding  generation,  it  now  grows  as  freely  in  the  for- 
ests as  the  wild  plum  and  the  crab-apple  do  with  us.  And  a 
most  beautiful  tree  it  is,  in  every  stage  of  its  growth,  and 

nt  every  season  of  the  year. 

323 


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324  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

globes  already  ripe,  were  peeping  out  timidly  from 
amid  the  glossy  leaves,  and  filling  the  air  with 
their  delicious  odors.  Few  trees,  outside  the  par- 
adise of  Adam  and  Eve,  can  surpass  it  in  the 
beauty  of  fruit,  flower,  and  foliage,  and,  we  may 
add,  in  the  rich  delicacy  of  its  fragrance. 

Under  the  branches  of  this  tree.  Dr.  Gordon, 
Mrs.  Gordon,  and  Mrs.  Mcintosh  were  seated  as 
guests  around  a  dining-table  of  mahogany,  the 
history  of  which,  and  of  the  handsome  chairs 
accompanying  it,  had  been  given  them  the  day 
before,  but  cannot  now  be  repeated.  Mary  occu- 
pied the  place  of  hostess,  and  Robert  that  of  host, 
while  little  Frank  crowded  in  between  father  and 
mother,  and  Harold  sat  lovingly  beside  his  mother. 
Sam,  acting  as  waiter,  stood  behind  the  chair  of 
his  young  mistress,  where  he  could  most  easily 
survey  the  whole  company,  and  be  ready  to  attend 
to  any  calls  upon  his  service. 

They  were  at  the  edge  of  a  small  prairie,  or 
natural  savanna,  a  few  acres  in  extent,  having 
near  them,  in  full  view,  an  old  Indian  hut,  which, 
though  neatly  built  at  first,  was  rapidly  going  to 
decay.  Partly  overhanging  this  hut  were  several 
very  old  peach-trees,  and,  at  the  margin  of  the 
forest  farther  on,  was  a  thicket  of  wild  plums. 
Not  many  steps  distant  from  the  company,  in 
another  direction,  was  the  Marooners^  tent.  It 
was  the  same  tent  that  had  been  brought  away 
from  Bellevue  in  the  runaway  boat,  but  it  had 


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BREAKFAST  UNDER^HE  ORANGE-TREE.— Paye  324. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  325 

undergone  such  alterations  as  to  be  scarcely  recog- 
nizable, having  been  increased  by  the  addition  to 
its  two  original  apartments,  of  several  sheds  or 
wings,  one  of  which  was  Sam's  room,  crowded 
wdth  tools,  and  sometimes  used  as  a  workshop,  and 
another,  furnished  with  a  stove  and  pipe,  was 
the  family  kitchen.  This  tent,  securely  pitched, 
and  well  protected  against  wet  by  a  double  fly  at 
the  top  and  a  good  drain  at  the  bottom,  was  at  the 
same  time  defended  against  hostile  attacks  by  a 
strong  palisade  of  stakes  driven  in  the  ground  in 
double  or  triple  rows  all  around.  Almost  adjoin- 
ing the  palisade  .was  a  small  covered  inclosure, 
divided  into  two  parts,  one  of  which  was  the  home 
of  a  she-goat,  with  a  half-grown  kid,  and  of  a 
beautiful  white  fawn,  and  the  other  was  occupied 
by  a  pair  of  young  bear  cubs,  that  were  as  tame 
as  either  fawn  or  kid,  and,  like  them,  passed  in 
and  out  of  their  dwelling  at  pleasure.  A  little 
farther  off  was  a  poultry-pen,  containing  wild  tur- 
keys, wild  ducks,  and  brant,  all  more  or  less 
maimed  in  their  wings  by  shot,  and  now  in  the 
process  of  fattening  or  of  taming. 

The  table  thus  spread  under  the  orange-tree, 
and  surrounded  by  the  afore-mentioned  company, 
was  plentifully  supplied  with  venison,  fish,  oys- 
ters, ship-bread,  butter  and  cheese,  and  (what  was 
a  treat  to  the  juveniles  after  their  long  privation) 
a  dish  of  delightful    hominy,   made   from    grits 


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326  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

brought  from  the  pilot-boat.  In  these  culinary 
preparations,  Mary,  aided  by  Sam,  was  the  agent, 
although  Mrs.  Mcintosh  insisted  upon  helping 
her,  and  did  prevail  so  far  as  to  have  the  drink- 
ables given  up  to  her  care,  in  consequence  of  which 
she  prepared  an  abundant  supply  of  excellent  and 
refreshing  coffee. 

Of  the  juveniles,  Frank  Gordon,  the  youngest, 
was  a  merry  little  fellow,  just  turned  eight  years 
of  age.  His  chief  occupation,  besides  play,  during 
their  long  sojourn  uj)on  the  island,  had  been  to 
keep  his  sister  company,  to  assist  in  her  various 
home  duties,  and  to  accompany  his  brother  or 
cousin  in  their  frequent  hunts  for  deer  and  tur- 
keys; but  that  in  which  he  most  prided  himself 
was  in  being  the  nominal  master  of  the  little  bears, 
who  sometimes,  in  a  wrestling  match,  proved  that 
they  could  master  him.  Mary,  his  sister,  was  a 
bright-faced,  curly-headed,  rosy-cheeked  girl  of 
eleven  years,  and  had  addressed  her  nimble  though 
inexperienced  fingers  to  the  duties  of  housemaid, 
housekeeper,  cook,  mother  to  Frank,  and  servant- 
of-all-work,  though  in  this  last  office  she  was  aided, 
as  fiir  as  possible,  by  all  the  others.  Robert,  their 
brother,  between  fourteen  and  fifteen  years  of  age, 
was  a  well-educated  boy,  of  fine  intellect  and 
varied  attainments,  but  in  bodily  development  by 
no  means  robust.  Harold  Mcintosh,  their  cousin, 
barely  fifteen,  was  a  strongly  built  youth,  and,  in 
many  respects,  the  opposite  of  Robert,  possessed 

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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  327 

of  a  fine  natural  mind,  but  having  had  his  educa- 
tion greatly  neglected,  although  he  had  been  trained 
to  all  manly  exercises,  and  was  thereby  the  better 
fitted  for  his  present  life  in  the  woods.  As  for 
clothing,  Robert  and  Mary  were  dressed  in  the 
usual  garb  of  civilized  life,  but  in  garments  that 
their  parents  had  never  before  seen,  of  which 
they  gave  the  explanation  in  connection  with  the 
history  of  the  mahogany  table  and  chairs  j  while 
Harold  and  Frank  were  clad  from  head  to  foot  in 
garments  of  dressed  deerskin,  which  had  been  pre- 
pared and  made  by  their  own  hands  from  the 
game  killed  since  coming  to  the  island. 

The  parents  looked  with  delight  and  surprise 
upon  their  ruddy-faced  children  and  the  comforts 
of  their  woodland  home,  and  many  a  silent  thanks- 
giving ascended  to  the  Father  of  all  good  for  the 
kindness  shown  them. 

"I  can  understand  now,"  said  Mrs.  Gordon  to 
Robert,  in  a  tone  of  playful  reproach,  as  they  sat 
around  the  breakfast-table  that  morning,  "I  can 
understand  now  why  you  all  made  no  greater 
efforts  to  return  home.  Your  island  is  so  pleas- 
ant that  I  should  have  no  great  objection  to  being 
detained  here  a  few  weeks  myself." 

"I  confess,  mother,"  replied  Robert,  "that  we 
did  not  do  much  work  for  more  than  a  month 
after  coming  here;  but  this  was  not  from  a  desire 
to  stay.  Indeed,  Mary  and  Frank  had  many  a 
hearty  cry  before  they  became  reconciled  to  their 

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328  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

banishment.  You  must  remember  that  after  we 
lost  our  boat,  we  had  no  means  of  getting  away. 
We  had  no  tools  to  work  with,  except  fire,  and 
our  axes  and  hatchet,  and  we  could  not  help  hop- 
ing, and  believing  too,  that  father  would  set  the 
whole  country  to  work  to  find  us,  and  also  come 
himself  to  take  us  off.^^ 

"All  which  was  done,"  said  his  fikther;  "and  had 
I  not  seen  for  myself,  this  tangled  forest  in  which 
you  have  taken  up  your  abode,  it  would  be  to  me 
a  mystery  still,  how  you  could  have  remained 
here  so  long  undiscovered.  Even  now  I  can  un- 
derstand it  only  by  supposing  that  the  Indians 
are  kept  away,  as  you  say  Riley  suggests,  by  a 
most  violent  superstition,  and  that  the  reefe  and 
shoals  which  guard  the  coast  at  this  point  prevent 
all  ordinary  access  to  it  from  sea.'' 

"Yes,  uncle,"  Harold  added;  "and  had  it  not 
been  for  our  fortunate  discovery,  on  Christmas 
day,  of  that  pirate  wreck  in  the  marsh,  from  which 
we  obtained  our  tools  and  most  of  our  supplies, 
we  should  not  have  finished  our  boats  yet.  We 
must  not  only  have  worked  very  slowly  and 
roughly  for  the  want  of  tools,  but  so  much  of  our 
time  would  have  been  occupied  with  hunting  and 
fishing  for  something  to  eat,  that  we  should  not  have 
been  able,  probably,  to  give  much  of  it  to  work." 

"  I  must  visit  that  pirate  wreck,  as  you  call  it, 
at  the  earliest  opportunity,"  said  Dr.  Gordon. 
"  But  our  first  duty  now,  since  the  burial  of  poor 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  329 

Peter  and  Dunbar  on  yesterday,  is  to  provide  the 
means  for  our  return  to  Tampa.  Robert,  did  you 
not  say  that  our  lost  boat,  my  pleasure-boat  that 
was,  has  been  discovered?'' 

"  Yes,  father,''  he  replied.  "  Not  two  hours  be- 
fore your  cannon  was  fired  the  night  of  the  gale, 
Harold  obtained  a  view  of  her  lying  in  the  marsh." 

Dr.  Gordon  then  looked  to  Harold,  who  con- 
tinued : 

"  She  lies,  or  rather  she  then  lay,  in  the  soft  mud 
of  the  marsh,  about  a  hundred  yards  from  the  river. 
Sam  was  with  me,  and  we  rowed  to  several  points, 
trying  to  get  nearer,  but  in  vain.  I  am  almost 
sure  it  is  our  Bellevue  boat,  for  she  has  the  same 
build  and  the  same  stripes." 

"  Mary,  dear,"  said  Gordon,  turning  to  his  thrifty 
little  hostess,  "  I  wish  to  take  Robert  and  Harold 
with  me  to  see  after  my  boat.  We  shall  probably 
be  gone  all  day,  for  if  we  do  not  succeed  with  the 
boat,  we  must  go  to  our  stranded  vessel,  and  see 
what  can  be  done  to  float  her.  Now,  people  can- 
not work  with  much  comfort  unless  they  have  some- 
thing to  eat,  so  I  beg  that  you  will  put  up  a  good 
substantial  lunch  for  us  of  such  materials  as  you 
have  at  hand,  without  further  cooking." 

Mary  at  once  left  the  table,  went  to  her  pantry, 
and  soon  returned  with  a  well-filled  basket.  In 
the  meantime,  her  father  spoke  to  Robert  and  Har- 
old, saying: 


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330  MAROOXER'S  ISLAND. 

"  We  will  go  as  soon  as  you  can  prepare  the 
boat.  But  let  me  ask  another  question :  What  is 
the  character  of  the  marsh  where  the  boat  lies?" 

"  Very  soft,"  Harold  answered. 

"So  I  understood,"  his  uncle  said;  "but  is  the 
mud  open,  or  is  it  covered  with  mangroves?" 

"  Partly  open  and  partly  covered.  We  could 
see  openings  through  it  all  the  way  to  the  boat," 
replied  Harold. 

"  Then,"  continued  his  uncle,  "  we  may  need 
several  broad  light  planks  to  walk  upon." 

"Why,  uncle,"  said  Harold,  in  surprise,  "all 
the  plank  at  our  command  would  not  carry  us  a 
quarter  of  the  way." 

"  If  the  marsh  is  properly  open,"  returned  his 
uncle,  with  a  smile,  "  I  could  make  two  planks,  or 
certainly  three,  carry  me  all  the  way.  I  would 
alternately  stand  upon  each,  and  push  the  other 
ahead." 

Harold  smiled  with  pleasure  at  the  simple  de- 
vice, and  responded : 

"  If  it  is  only  a  pair  of  mud-shoes,  you  want, 
like  the  Laplander's  snow-shoes,  I  think  we  can 
supply  you." 

And  oflF  he  and  Robert  went,  each  with  his  gun 
and  a  pair  of  oars  upon  his  shoulder,  and  carrying 
other  parts  of  the  boat's  rigging  between  them. 

"  Father,  may  I  not  go,  too  ?"  plead  little  Frank. 
"I  am  never  in  anybody's  way,  and  I  can  help 
sometimes." 


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MAROONER^S  ISI^aND  333 

"  That  is  the  very  reason  I  hackle  bag,  which  he 
leave  you  at  home,"  his  father  ar.  the  water  •  then 
at  the  good  opinion  Frank  had  ex*  a  hatchet  he 
self.  ^*  But  if  there  is  no  need  for  janding  where 
you  are  welcome  to  go  with  us.  Wi^aJtino-  their 
ma  ?     What  says  auntie  ?     What  say^ll^^ 

All  answered  promptly  in  consent,  and  the^^ino- 
ment  the  question  was  decided,  Frank  jumped  vij^ 
and  clapped  his  hands,  saying : 

"  Well,  there  is  something  else  I  know  you  will 
want,  and  I  will  get  it,  for  my  share." 

He  ran  to  the  tent,  brought  out  a  jug  and  a  dip- 
per, and  was  on  his  way  to  the  spring,  w^hen  his 
father  said : 

"  You  are  a  thoughtful  little  boy,  Frank.  We 
shall  need  water  as  much  as  lunch.  But  that  jug 
will  be  too  heavy  for  you  to  carry,  when  full  of 
water.     Give  it  to  Sam,  and  do  you  come  here." 

Frank  did  as  he  was  directed,  and  his  father 
asked : 

"  Can  you  climb  a  tree?" 

Frank  answered :  "  The  boys  at  home  used  to 
call  me  squirrel." 

"But  can  you  chimb  an  cwan^e-tree ? "  his 
father  asked  again,  alluding  to  the  terrible  thorns, 
(oftentimes  forked  or  branching  into  several  points,) 
by  which  access  to  the  golden  fruit  is  guarded. 

"Yes,  sir,"  Frank  replied;  "I  have  climbed 
them  many  a  time,  and  been  stuck,  too.  But  we 
do  not  climb  the  orange-trees  now." 


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330  MAIiO^^^^^'^  ISLAND, 

"  We  will  go  a^^  ^^^  father;  " then  how  do  you 
boat.     But  let  me 
the  character  oft  ^^  replied,  drawing  out  from  a 

"  Very  soft  "  ^^  ^  '^"g>  '^gl^*^  P^^^*  ^^  ^^^  small 

"  So  I  under^^  firmly  tied  a  small  wooden  hook ; 
mud  open,  -^-^  ^  ^^^Y  ^  ^^^  want." 

u  pf  then  asked  his  sister  for  a  little  bag,  and 

see  '-"S  ^P  ^^®  P^l®>  '^^  ^'^  • 

j.p   "The  best  oranges  are  yonder  in  the  woods; 

but  you  must  go  with  me.'^ 

"What,  are  you  afraid ?"  his  father  asked. 

"No,  sir,  I  am  not,"  he  replied;  "but  brother 
Robert  is,  and  so  is  cousin  Harold." 

Dr.  Gordon  looked  for  explanatioti  to  Mary, 
who  had  by  this  time  returned,  and  she  answered : 

"  The  first  night  after  we  came  to  the  prairie,  a 
pantlier  ran  off  with  one  of  Nannie's  kidfe,  and 
from  that  time  till  now  brother  Robert  and  cousin 
Harold  always  carry  their  guns,  and  have  charged 
Fmnk  never  to  go  into  the  woods  alone." 

"  Very  wisely  charged,"  said  her  father,  looking 
grave.  "Then  we  must  not  take  all  the  guns 
away  from  the  tent.  I  will  load  mine  and  leave 
it  with  Sam." 

"  You  need  not  do  that,  &ther,  if  you  care  to 
carry  it,"  replied  Mary,  "for  Sam  has  his  own 
gun  loaded,  and  I  have  mine,  too,  and  we  can  all 
shoot,  all  except  little  Frank." 

Dr.  Gordon  went  with  Frank  to  the  tree  having 


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MAROONER'  S  ISLAND  333 

the  better  oranges,  loaded  the  little  bag,  which  he 
gave  him  to  carry  in  place  of  the  water;  then 
Bhouldering  his  gun,  and  taking  a  hatchet,  he 
went  with  him  and  Sam  to  the  landing,  where 
Robert  and  Harold  were  already  awaiting  their 
approach. 

The  boat-landing  was  a  neat  little  cove,  setting 
in  from  the  river  on  the  eastern  margin  of  the 
island,  and  so  completely  surrounded  by  sea-myr- 
tles and  other  shrubs  as  to  be  invisible  to  persons 
passing  by  water. 

The  voyagers  were  soon  afloat.  Dr.  Gordon  at 
the  helm,  and  llobert  and  Harold  at  the  oars,  and 
then  the  light  and  well-trimmed  canoe  shot  rapidly 
along  the  crooked  river  on  her  northward  way. 
Great  flocks  of  wdld  ducks,  various  in  size  and 
plumage,  and  of  brant,  (better  known  as  the  ordi- 
nary wild  goose,  gray  in  color,  but  having  a 
white  ring  around  the  throat,)  crowded  the  sur- 
face of  the  river  and  also  the  muddy  shore,  where 
they  assembled  in  countless  numbers  to  plume  their 
feathers  and  to  exchange  with  each  other  a  social 
quack !  quack !  At  the  sharp  angles  of  the  river, 
beyond  the  projecting  points  of  which  these  birds 
tried  to  conceal  themselves,  and  where  the  ordinary 
number  was  greatly  increased  by  those  which  had 
been  previously  scared  up  by  the  boat,  they  arose 
in  such  clouds,  and  came  so  near  overhead  in  their 
circling  flight,  that  Dr.  Gordon  and  Robert  were 


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334  MARO  OXER'S   ISLAXD 

tempted  twice  to  give  them  the  contents  of  their 
gun-barrels,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  a 
shower  of  the  different  kinds  come  pouring  ob- 
liquely from  the  living  clouds  above,  and  dotting 
the  placid  surface  of  the  water  below.  Harold's 
piece  was  a  rifle,  and  therefore  unfit  for  such  work, 
yet  with  his  single  ball,  sent  through  the  mingled 
strata  overhead,  he  brought  down  two  birds,  one  of 
which  fell  with  broken  wing,  and  one  with  severed 
neck.  These  several  discharges  furnished  so  liberal 
a  supply  of  wild  fowl,  and  the  killing  of  more 
was  so  manifest  a  waste  of  life,  that  Dr.  Gordon 
commanded  a  truce. 

Nor  was  little  Frank  without  enjoyment,  though 
he  wielded  no  gun.  Besides  an  eager  sympathy 
in  the  excitement  of  the  sport,  his  chief  amuse- 
ment consisted  in  watching  the  fish.  In  passing 
near  the  mud-flats,  where  the  shrimp,  prawn,  and 
mullet  congregate  to  feed  upon  the  rich  slime  of 
the  river,  it  was  a  never-ceasing  source  of  pleasure 
to  him  to  observe  the  nimble  leaping  of  these  little 
creatures,  that  in  their  careless  gambols  threw 
themselves  even  into  the  boat  itself. 

"That's  mine!  and  that!  and  that!''  he  ex- 
claimed, in  passing  a  certain  shoal  where  several 
of  the  larger  mullet  leaped  over  the  gunwale  in 
such  rapid  succession  that  he  could  scarcely  count 
them,  tempting  him  to  boast  that  he  would  soon 
have  as  manv  fish  as  his  father  and  brother  had 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  335 

birds.  In  the  middle  of  the  current,  enormous 
sturgeons,  as  long  as  a  man,  would  dart  their  full 
length  from  the  water,  and  fall  back  with  a  heavy 
splash  that  could  be  heard  a  quarter  of  a  mile ; 
while  a  long  line  of  porpoises,  sometimes  in  pla- 
toons, sometimes  in  irregular  file,  would  put  their 
great  snouts  out  of  water,  give  a  loud  and  pro- 
longed PuflP-f-f  I  then  gracefully  dive  back  again, 
showing,  as  they  turned,  their  immense  shiny 
backs,  broad  and  round  as  the  fattest  of  hogs.* 

On  arriving  at  the  point  recognized  by  Harold 
as  that  from  which  he  had  so  plainly  seen  the  lost 
boat  three  days  before,  they  looked  everywhere 
for  her  in  vain.  They  rowed  to  other  points,  and 
even  ascended  the  marsh,  walking  on  the  soft  mud 
by  means  of  the  boards,  then  elevating  them- 
selves still  more  by  standing  upon  their  oars 
lodged  on  the  mangroves. 

"  No  doubt  lifted  and  carried  off  by  the  last 
gale,"  Harold  mournfully  suggested.  "  What  a 
pity  to  lose  her ! " 

"Perhaps  not  lost,"  his  uncle  replied.  "If 
moved  only  by  the  gale,  she  must  lie  not  far  off, 
and  in  the  direction  of  wind  and  tide." 

*  The  word  porpoise  means  hog-fish,  (from  the  French 
pore-poisson^)  and  the  animal  is  known  by  some  as  "sea-hog," 
from  the  shape  and  size  of  its  fat  back,  and  its  habit  of  root- 
ing for  eels  and  sea-worms,  in  the  same  manner  as  hogs  root 
for  their  food. 


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336  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

"  Shall  we  continue  our  search?"  asked  Robert. 

"  Not  for  three  days/^  replied  his  father ;  '^  we 
shall  then  have  a  spring  tide,  and  be  able  to  row 
over  a  large  part  of  the  marsh,  and  possibly  even 
to  capture  and  bring  her  back.'^ 

They  now  went,  without  delay,  to  inspect  the 
stranded  vessel,  and  found  her  high  and  dry  upon 
her  side,  full  twenty  feet  from  low-water  mark, 
though  not  much  above  it.  The  bed  in  which 
she  lay  seemed  to  be  mud,  but  probing  with  an 
iron  ramrod  revealed  a  stratum  of  shell-rock  a 
few  inches  below.  A  drift  of  dead  mangroves, 
mingled  with  other  marsh  growth,  covered  her 
hull,  and  gave  her,  at  a  distance,  the  appearance  of 
a  great  pile  of  sea- weed.  With  the  exception  of 
her  broken  mast,  and  a  partial  fracture  of  her  rud- 
der and  keel,  she  was  perfectly  sound. 

On  examining  the  cabin  and  forecastle,  every- 
thing was  found  to  lie  just  as  it  had  been  left  two 
days  before,  and  there  was  no  sign  of  interference 
except  in  the  pantry,  which  had  evidently  been 
entered  and  relieved  of  a  ham  of  dried  venison 
and  a  small  bag  of  ship-bread.  The  loss  was  a 
trifle,  but  the  fact  was  very  distressing.  The  ves- 
sel had  been  vmted.  By  whom  it  was  important  to 
know ;  for  the  party  would,  no  doubt,  repeat  the 
visit,  possibly  with  hostile  intent,  and  in  force 
sufficient  to  annoy,  if  not  to  overwhelm.  For  a 
few  minutes  Dr.  Gordon  and  his  boys  pondered 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  337 

the  matter  with  feelings  akin  to  what  is  so  power- 
fully depicted  by  De  Foe  when  he  represents 
Robinson  Crusoe  as  discovering  the  human  foot- 
prints in  the  sand  of  the  seashore.  Many  were 
the  conjectures  advanced  in  explanation  of  the 
mystery,  and  rejected  as  unsatisfactory,  until  Har- 
old, who  for  some  reason  had  gone  out  to  the  canoe, 
Avas  heard  to  exclaim : 

"  Come  here,  uncle !  Come  here,  Robert !  I 
can  explain  it  now." 

They  went  in  answer  to  his  call,  and  saw  him 
looking  eagerly  at  some  marks  made  with  red 
ochre  upon  the  slope  of  the  deck,  just  over  the 
companionway.  These  marks  composed  a  most 
uncouth  figure,  with  six  points  standing  out  from 
an  oval  body,  which  Dr.  Gordon  and  Robert 
would  have  studied  long  without  being  able  to 
decipher,  but  which  Harold  explained,  joyfully  : 

"That  is  old  Torgah's  mark.  It  is  intended 
for  the  figure  of  a  ground-mole^  He  told  me  that 
Torgah  was  his  home  name,  but  that  he  was  known 
in  the  nation  by  the  Muscogee  name  of  Tuck-assee- 
Emathla,  which  means  ground-mole  warrior, 
because  he  had  once  killed  his  enemy  by  under- 
mining,  like  a  mole,  and  that  now,  wheresoever 
the  figure  of  a  tuck-assee  is  seen,  it  is  known  to 
mean  himself,  and  that  when  it  is  marked  upon 
anything  it  will  protect  it,  so  far  as  his  name  has 
any  influence." 

W 


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338  MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

"  So  he  has  been  here !  and,  no  doubt,  Somassee 
too,"  said  Dr.  Gordon.  "  The  venison  ham  they 
took  was  their  own.  They  have  shown  their 
fidelity  by  coming  according  to  promise,  and  by 
leaving  a  protecting  mark  upon  what  they  sup- 
posed I  should  wish  to  be  saved.  I  would  scarcely 
have  expected  this  from  red-skins." 

"Torgah  will  do  anything  for  me  or  for  mine," 
rejoined  Harold  enthusiastically.  "I  will  trust 
my  life  in  his  hands." 

"  You  think  well  of  your  old  friend,"  said  his 
uncle,  with  a  smile.  "  I  trust  the  future  will  sus- 
tain your  good  opinion." 

Satisfied  now  that  all  was  right,  Dr.  Gordon 
proceeded  to  examine  the  vessel  with  a  view  to 
getting  her  afloat.  Accustomed  to  mechanical 
operations,  and  never  better  satisfied  than  when 
having  some  problem  of  the  kind  to  solve,  he  was, 
however,  sorely  puzzle<l  with  the  question  now 
before  him.  He  looked  long  and  carefully  at  ves- 
sel, ground,  and  water,  and  became  perfectly  ab- 
sorbed in  thought,  while  Robert  and  Harold  con- 
tinued silent  spectators,  or  conversed  with  each 
other  in  whispers.  At  last  little  Frank  broke 
silence  by  asking : 

"  Father,  do  you  think  you  can  get  her  off?" 

"  O  yes,  with  time  and  work  enough,"  he  replied. 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,"  said  Harold, 
"  but  for  my  part,  I  do  not  see  how  the  work  of 
getting  her  off  is  even  to  be  beguny 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  339 

"  I  can  tell  you  of  several  ways/'  replied  his 
uncle,  "  but  the  question  with  me  is,  whether  the 
getting  of  her  off  will  be  worth  the  time  and  labor 
of  doing  it?'' 

"  She  is  very  heavy,  and  we  are  very  weak," 
continued  Harold,  "and  I  shall  be  much  obliged 
to  you,  uncle,  if  you  will  give  me  some  ideas  on  the 
subject.     I  am  perfectly  lost  when  thinking  of  it." 

"I  will  give  you  your  choice  of  three  modes, 
and  see  which  of  them  you  like  best,"  his  uncle 
replied.  "  The  first  is  to  act  upon  the  principle 
involved  in  the  name  of  your  old  friend,  Tuek- 
assee,  the  Underminer :  we  can  dig  a  canal  long 
and  deep  enough  to  float  her  off  at  high  tide." 

"I  understand  that,  and  like  it,  too,"  said 
Harold,  "but  how  are  we  to  keep  this  heavy 
thing  from  sinking  upon  us  when  we  have  under- 
mined her?" 

"By  props,  to  be  removed  at  the  right  time," 
answered  Dr.  Gordon.  "A  second  mode  is  to 
lift  her  upon  a  system  of  skids  or  ways  strong 
enough  to  support  her  weight,  and  let  her  slide 
down  their  greased  surface,  as  in  ordinary  launch- 
ing, except  that  our  vessel  must  go  sideway." 

"  I  understand  that,  too,"  Harold  repeated,  with 
a  smile  of  pleasure. 

"  A  third  mode,"  continued  his  uncle,  "  is  that 
used  in  house-moving.  We  must  lift  her  suffi- 
ciently to  set  her  on  a  level,  or  partially  inclined 


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340  MAROONER^'S  ISLAND 

way  of  strong  timber,  along  which  we  must  move 
her  by  means  of  rollers/' 

^^  Yes,  uncle,  that  is  plain  enough,  too, — all  but 
one  thing,"  Harold  interposed ;  "  but  how  are  we 
four  (counting  in  Sam)  to  lift  this  heavy  vessel  im- 
bedded in  the  mud?" 

"  Have  we  not  a  foundation  of  rock  ?"  asked 
his  uncle  in  reply. 

Harold  nodded  assent. 

"  Have  we  not  plenty  of  timber  on  the  island 
long  enough  and  strong  enough  for  all  the  levers 
that  can  he  wanted  ?" 

Harold  nodded  again, 

"  With  sufficient  leverage,  and  with  a  founda- 
tion on  which  to  work,  we  four  can  raise  any 
assignable  weight,"  his  uncle  continued,  "only  the 
greater  the  disproportion  between  power  and 
weight,  the  longer  the  time  that  will  be  occupied. 
Archimedes  is  reported  to  have  said,  ^  Give  me 
a  lever  long  enough,  and  I  can  move  the  world.' " 

Harold  mused  awhile  without  reply,  and  Dr. 
Gordon  continued : 

"  If  you  are  in  difficulty  about  managing  the 
very  large  and  heavy  levers  necessary  in  this 
work,  I  will  show  you  how  to  do  that  when  the 
time  for  working  has  come.  All  that  I  can  give 
you  now  is  the  principle." 

*^  For  which  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you," 
replied  Harold,  with  a  look  of  gratitude.  "You 
have  made  me  feel  ten  times  stronger  ali'eady." 

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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  341 

Having  completed  the  necessary  surveys,  and 
taken  from  the  vessel  such  stores  as  were  needed 
at  the  tent,  and  especially  such  things  as  might 
be  endangered  by  being  left,  they  prepared  to  re- 
turn.    On  their  way.  Dr.  Gordon  said  to  Harold : 

"I  have  given  you  some  ideas,  which  seem  to 
have  interested  you,  on  the  subject  of  lifting  and 
moving  heavy  weights.  I  will  now  give  you  a 
rule  about  machinery  in  general,  which  may  help 
you,  as  it  has  ofl;en times  helped  me.  You  may 
feel  assured  that  anything  can  be  accomplished  by 
machinery  which  requires  only  the  action  of  A  GIVEN 

POWER,   IN  A   GIVEN    DIRECTION,   FOR   A   GIVEN 
TIME. 

"Take,  as  a  sample,  our  question  of  to-day. 
We  know  that  we  can  launch  our  vessel,  because 
this  requires  only  the  action  of  a  power  sufficient 
to  lift  her  from  her  bed,  and  then  a  power  suffi- 
cient to  shove  or  pull  her  to  the  water.  And 
though  our  personal  strength  is  small,  we  know 
that  we  can  increase  it  indefinitely  by  the  use  of 
mechanical  leverage  within  reach. 

"  But  when  a  machine  requires  thought  or  judg- 
ment, or  when  it  requires  unlimited  time,  (as  in 
all  ^perpetual  motion'  machines,)  we  at  once  pro- 
nounce it  impossible." 

The  company  reached  the  tent  by  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon,  wearied,  yet  hopeful. 


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CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

VISIT  TO  THE  PIRATE  WRECK— NIGHT  WORK. 

CONTEMPORANEOUS  with  these  ad- 
ventures, there  lived  in  the  wild  woods 
of  Texas  a  hunter  and  warrior  whose 
name*  was  in  every  raouth,  from  Maine 
to  Mexico,  but  of  whom  the  only  distinct  vestige 
now  remaining  in  the  public  mind  is  the  wide- 
spread adage,  ^^  Be  sure  you  are  right,  then  go 
ahead/' 

This  had  become,  at  first  in  jest,  afterward  in 
earnest,  a  favorite  maxim  with  Dr.  Gordon.  On 
returning  from  the  tour  which  had  occupied  them 
most  of  the  day,  he  had  said  to  the  boys,  — 

"What  we  do  for  launching  the  pilot  boat 
within  a  month  must  be  done  quickly.  On  Tues- 
day will  probably  be  the  highest  tide  of  the  sea- 
son, being  the  spring  tide  of  the  vernal  equinox. 
But  in  order  to  launch  her,  we  must  cut  away  that 
bed  of  shell-rock  on  which  she  lies,  and  to  cut 
that  away  we  must  have  mattocks,  or  their  equiva- 

*  David  Crockett. 

842 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  343 

lent.  Have  you  anything  of  the  kind  among 
your  tools  ?'^ 

"  Nothing,"  Robert  replied ;  "  nor  do  I  recol- 
lect seeing  anything  answering  to  it  among  the 
tools  of  the  pirate  wreck." 

"  As  the  rock  is  very  soft,  possibly  some  broad 
chisels  driven  deeply  might  effect  our  purpose," 
Dr.  Gordon  added.  "We  might  also  accomplish 
a  good  deal  by  a  few  deeply  laid  blasts  of  gun- 
powder, but  I  prefer  not  to  employ  that  for  fear 
of  attracting  the  attention  of  the  wild  people  on 
the  mainland." 

"  We  have  cannon  powder  enough  at  the  tent, 
or  rather  near  it,  hidden  away  in  some  hollow 
trees,"  Harold  observed ;  "  and  as  for  chisels,  I 
recollect  seeing  several  very  broad  ones  in  the 
tool-chest  of  the  pirate." 

"  You  have  alluded  so  often  to  that  wreck,  and 
spoken  so  confidently  of  its  piratical  character, 
that  I  must  certainly  visit  her  and  judge  for  my- 
self," said  Dr.  Gordon.  "  Perhaps,  too,  we  may 
find  there  all  the  tools,  or  substitutes  for  them, 
that  we  may  need.  How  far  is  she  from  your 
landing?" 

"  About  a  mile,"  the  boys  replied,  "  and  very 
easy  of  approach  at  quarter  tide,  which  we  will 
have  late  this  afternoon." 

"  Exactly  suiting  our  time,"  rejoined  Dr.  Gor- 
don, ^^and  I  propose  to  go  so  soon  as  we  can  feel 
sufficiently  rested  after  our  return." 


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344  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

During  the  half  hour  that  they  spent  at  the 
tent,  Dr.  Gordon  called  up  Sanft  and  inquired 
what  tools  he  recollected  seeing  at  the  wreck  suited 
to  iis  purpose,  to  which  Sam  replied,  — 

^^I  nebber  see  no  mattock,  mossa.  .  Mebbe 
some  day,  doe.     But  I  see  plenty  o'  big  chisel.'* 

Leaving  Frank  at  home  now,  and  taking  Sam 
in  his  place,  the  company  set  off  on  this  new 
errand.  The  long  slow  tide  of  the  Gulf  was  just 
turning  from  ebb  to  flood  as  they  left  the  landing, 
and  when  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  creek 
where  the  wreck  lay,  the  little  tide-wave,  which 
always  preceded  the  rise,  had  just  entered  it. 
Broad  and  clear  as  the  mouth  of  the  creek  was, 
all  objects  a  little  beyond  were  concealed  from  the 
view  of  persons  passing,  by  a  rankly  grown  ham- 
mock of  myrtle  and  cedar.  The  wrecked  vessel 
lay,  bottom  upward,  directly  across  the  bed  of 
the  drain,  and  a  heavy  raft  of  seaweeds  and  other 
growth  covered  completely  the  side  on  which  they 
approached  her.  Unfavorably  situated  as  she  was 
for  making  an  impression,  no  one  could  scan  her 
proportions  without  being  struck  with  her  beauty 
as  a  model  of  strength  and  speed. 

The  mass  of  weeds  drifted  against  the  stern 
greatly  facilitated  their  ascent  to  the  upturned 
bottom,  upon  which  they  passed  next  the  keel  to 
a  scuttle  cut  amidships  by  the  boys,  on  a  former 
occasion,  and  affording  easy  access  to  the  dark 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  345 

interior.  Robert  and  Harold,  whose  frequent 
visits  had  familiarized  them  with  everything  there, 
were  preparing  to  descend  at  once  into  the  scuttle, 
but  quickly  drew  back  in  disgust, — an  intolerable 
odor  of  decaying  matter,  animal  and  vegetable, 
was  finding  vent  at  the  hole  and  threatening  to 
prevent  all  further  progress. 

"  This  is  worse  than  it  has  ever  been  before,'^ 
said  Harold,  turning  a  little  pale. 

"  There  was  none  of  it  at  our  last  visit,  though 
that  was  only  last  week,^^  added  Robert,  with  a 
disappointed  look. 

"  You  seem  to  forget,  boys,  that  in  the  mean- 
time there  has  been  a  severe  gale,  which  no  doubt 
has  wet  the  substances  within,^^  said  Dr.  Gordon. 
"  There  certainly  is  a  horrid  odor,  but  what  con- 
cerns me  most  is  whether  it  may  not  be  noxious 
as  well  as  nauseous.  We  must  test  it  before  we 
dascend.*' 

Harold  laughed.  "  I  can  never  forget  that  old 
well  at  Bellevue,'^  said  he,  "  where  I  dropped  my 
knife,  and  would  certainly  have  been  suffocated 
in  going  after  it  had  not  Robert  first  tested  the  air 
by  a  lighted  splinter.'^ 

"  As  we  will  test  this  now,  except  that  we  will 
use  a  candle  instead,^*  returned  his  uncle,  with  a 
smile. 

A  light  rod  was  soon  constructed  of  several 
switches,  selected  from  the  raft,  and  tied  together ; 


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346  MAROONER'  S  ISLAND. 

a  candle,  brought  for  the  purpose  of  exploring, 
was  fastened  securely  to  the  lower  end,  then 
lighted  and  lowered  slowly  into  the  vessel's  hold. 
Instead  of  being  extinguished,  however,  as  it  would 
have  been  had  the  hold  been  filled  with  deadly 
vapor,  it  burned  as  brightly  as  ever,  on  seeing 
which.  Dr.  Gordon  said : 

"  We  need  not  fear  suifocation,  for  air  that  will 
support  combustion  will  also  support  life.  Could 
we  now  guard  against  infection,  which  is  some- 
times caused  by  such  vapors,  we  might  feel  per- 
fectly safe,  though  our  olfactories  should  suffer. 
But  I  think  we  may  risk  it.  Boys,  get  your  noses 
ready ! '' 

With  this  command,  as  much  in  earnest  as  in 
jest,  though  given  with  a  laugh,  Dr.  Gordon 
covered  his  own  nose  with  a  handkerchief,  which 
he  first  damped,  remarking, — 

"Silk  is  an  excellent  strainer  for  the  breath. 
A  dry  handkerchief  kept  closely  round  the  nostrils 
is  a  great  protection  against  dust,  and  a  damp  one  is 
as  great  a  protection  against  smoke  and  malaria.^' 

A  small  rope  ladder  had  been  attached  to  the 
scuttle  in  a  previous  visit.  In  descending  that, 
and  approaching  the  inverted  deck,  all  were  con- 
scious of  a  current  of  air  passing  upward,  which 
they  were  tempted  to  breathe,  and  which  they 
found,  to  their  joy,  almost  as  pure  as  the  air  out- 
side. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  347 

^^This  puts  us  at  our  ease/'  said  Dr.  Gordon. 
"We  may  breathe  now,  and  talk  and  work  too, 
without  feeling  ourselves  all  the  time  under  pres- 
sure. The  bad  air,  in  whatever  sense  it  may  be 
bad,  is  in  the  hold  above  us,  and  finds  its  vent 
through  the  scuttle.^' 

They  went  into  the  tool-room,  and  discovered 
there,  not  only  the  chisels  described,  and  other 
things  belonging  to  carpenter's  and  shipwright's 
work,  but  many  things  pertaining  to  a  smithery, 
though  none  of  them  bore  the  marks  of  having 
l)een  used.  There  were  hammers  large  and  small, 
and  tongs  of  several  kinds,  an  anvil,  a  pair  of 
double  bellows  for  keeping  up  a  continuous  blast, 
and  steel  and  iron  in  bars,  and  even  a  small  pile 
of  charcoal.  No  mattock  was  to  be  seen,  nor  hoe, 
nor  spade,  (these  travellers  upon  the  water  seemed 
to  have  had  no  thought  of  ever  being  on  land,) 
but  Dr.  Gordon  selected  one  or  two  iron  rods, 
which  he  judged  might,  by  a  little  bending  and 
flattening,  be  made  to  accomplish  his  purpose,  and 
in  order  to  insure  the  necessary  forging,  he  resolved 
to  carry  back  the  anvil,  the  bellows,  and  other 
things  needful. 

From  the  tool-room  they  went  to  the  gunner's 
room,  then  to  the  forecastle,  by  an  opening  that 
had  been  cut  through  the  thick  partition,  then 
back  to  the  after-cabin  and  officers'  room.  In 
every  department  the  evidences  of  a  warlike  char- 


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348  MAROONER'S  ISLAND 

acter  were  so  manifest,  that  the  only  question  to 
be  decided  was  whether  the  vessel  was  lawfully  c«r 
unlawfully  in  arms. 

"  She  may  have  been  a  privateer ^^^  suggested  Dr. 
Gordon,  "  or  an  armed  vessel  in  search  of  pirates ; 
though  I  confess  the  burden  of  proof  goes  to  show 
that  her  character  was  piratical.  .  If  so,  her  mur- 
derous crew  have  met  with  a  just,  though  awful 
retribution.  Did  I  not  hear  you  say,  boys,  that 
there  was  a  strong,  iron  box  somewhere  about 
which  you  had  not  examined?' 

"It  is  in  a  closet  in  the  after-cabin,'^  replied 
Harold.  "  We  have  not  opened  it,  partly  for  two 
reasons :  we  did  not  know  how,  and  we  were  some- 
what in  doubt  whether  we  ought  to  open  it  if  we 
could." 

"  Very  good  reasons,"  his  uncle  said,  "  but  over- 
borne, I  think,  by  the  fact  that  by  opening  it  we 
may  obtain  some  more  certain  clue  to  the  owner- 
ship and  character  of  the  vessel.     Lead  me  to  it." 

They  went,  all  together.  The  box,  though  not 
very  large,  was  heavy,  as  if  made  of  thick,  solid 
metal,  or  filled  with  something  possessed  of  great 
weight.  In  the  capsizing  of  the  vessel  it  had 
been  thrown  with  its  door  downward,  so  there 
was  reason  to  expect  that  the  confined  air,  having 
no  escape,  would  have  kept  the  papers  and  other 
valuables  within  in  a  state  of  tolerable  preservation. 

By  their  united  strength  the  box  was  heaved 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  349 

over,  and  its  door  exposed  conveniently  to  work. 
A  strong,  sharp  cold  chisel,  highly  tempered,  for 
cutting  iron,  was  brought,  together  with  a  black- 
smith's hammer,  by  means  of  which  two  holes 
were  cut  in  the  iron  door  large  enough  to  admit 
the  end  of  a  bar  of  steel,  to  be  used  as  a  lever, 
and  by  which  the  door  was  soon  pried  from  its 
place. 

Upon  the  shelves  within,  and  in  the  several 
compartments  into  which  the  interior  was  divided, 
were  many  small  packages,  some  of  which  were 
quite  heavy,  and  carefully  wrapped,  tied,  and  la- 
belled in  Spanish,  both  within  and  without.  There 
was  a  large  box  filled  with  Mexican  dollars,  and  a 
small  box  heavy  with  gold  coin,  of  several  differ- 
ent nations.  These  boxes  seemed  to  be  the  treas- 
ury, all  the  other  packages  bearing  the  marks  of 
private  property. 

The  first  of  the  labelled  packages,  opened  by 
special  request  of  the  boys,  was  quite  small,  but 
very  neatly  put  up.  Upon  a  paper  outside,  it  bore 
the  partly  obliterated  name  "  *Ros*.''  The  names 
recorded  within  were  Manuel  De  Rosa,  Elena,  his 
wife,  and  Maria  and  Gualterio,  their  children,  all 
hailing  from  Vera  Cruz,  Mexico.  The  contents 
were  highly  valuable,  consisting  of  diamonds, 
opals,  and  rubies,  of  such  purity  and  workmanship 
that  they  would  be  valued  by  a  jeweller  at  a  small 
fortune. 


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350  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"This  package/'  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "must  be 
carefully  preserved  for  the  rightful  heirs,  if  it  has 
not  been  forfeited  by  the  misdeeds  of  the  last  pos- 
sessor. It  may  gain  us  a  clue  to  the  others,  and 
to  the  true  character  and  history  of  the  unfortu- 
nate vessel." 

Other  packages,  which  were  opened,  then  care- 
fully bound  again,  contained  every  variety  of  val- 
uables in  small  compass — gold  chains,  rings, 
bracelets,  jewels,  and  even  a  few  costly  watches. 
One  of  them  was  labelled  Mateo  Molina,  Nicara- 
gua ;  another  Guillermo  Ximenez,  Matagorda ; 
another  simply,  Juanieo ;  a  fourth,  Faquita,  (Fan- 
ny,) New  York ;  one  bore  the  fancy  name  of  Sil- 
bador,  (whistler;)  and  another  still  was  marked 
on  the  outside,  Antonillo  Anade,  (Tony  Duck,)  on 
an  inner  envelope  Anadino,  (little  duck,)  and  on  a 
paper  still  further  inside,  Anadoncillo,  (big  young 
duck.) 

"  Mr.  Duck  seems  to  have  had  an  unusual  num- 
ber of  pet  names,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "  but  not  one 
of  them,  probably,  his  true  one." 

"  I  think  he  must  have  been  a  funny  little  duck- 
legged  man,  and  a  great  favorite  with  the  person 
who  prepared  these  labels,"  added  Robert. 

Harold  looked  and  listened  very  gravely.  The 
ludicrous  associations  with  the  last  name  which 
made  his  uncle  and  cousin  laugh,  scarcely  caused 
his  lips  to  curl  with  a  smile. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  351 

"  Tony  Duck ! "  said  he,  musing.  "  I  think  we 
have  something  of  his  already.  Do  you  not  re- 
collect, Robert,  the  short-legged  skeleton  in  blue 
jacket  and  trousers,  that  frightened  us  so  badly  in 
the  forecastle,  by  being  moved  through  the  water 
by  a  fish?" 

"  Indeed  I  do,"  Robert  answered  ;  "and  I  recol- 
lect, too,  we  were  much  interested  in  some  old 
and  well-worn  letters  in  a  female  hand,  containing 
the  name  of  Antonio ;  and  lying  side  by  side  in 
the  pocket-book  were  three  faded  miniatures  on 
ivory,  two  of  a  venerable  couple,  that  we  took  to 
be  father  and  mother^  and  one  of  a  beautiful  girl 
that  we  judged  to  be  this  young  man^s  sister,  be- 
cause she  was  evidently  the  daughter  of  the  old 
people." 

"Did  you  preserve  those  letters  and  likenesses?" 
Dr.  Gordon  asked. 

"  O  yes, "father,"  Robert  replied,  "  we  destroyed 
nothing  that  could  possibly  be  of  use." 

"  And  we  even  saved  a  lock  of  hair  from  each 
skeleton  that  we  could  reach,"  added  Harold. 

"  They  will  be  important  links  in  the  chain  of 
inquiries  to  be  made,"  said  Dr.  Gordon.  "  And 
now,  boys,  let  us  get  ready  to  return." 

They  put  aboard  the  tools  and  the  smaller  pack- 
ages from  the  iron  chest,  together  with  the  little 
box  of  gold,  —  that  containing  the  silver  being  too 
heavy  for  them  to  move  at  present,  or  to  carry 
upon  their  heavily  freighted  canoe. 


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352  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

So  much  was  to  be  done,  and  so  short  the  time 
in  which  to  do  it,  that  Dr.  Gordon  and  the  boys 
gave  themselves  no  rest  on  their  return  from  the 
pirate  wreck,  until  the  bellows  and  anvil  had  been 
put  in  position,  and  two  of  the  rods  of  iron  forged 
into  the  shape  of  mattock  and  handle.  In  the 
midst  of  the  work,  Robert  remarked,  — 

"  A  mattock  and  an  adze  are  so  much  alike  that 
I  wonder  whether  one  might  not  be  made  to  serve 
for  the  other." 

"  Certainly  it  might,"  his  father  replied,  "  but 
have  you  any  adzes  ?" 

"  Yes,  father,  two  of  them,  that  we  used  in  dig- 
ging out  our  boats.  They  are  stowed  away  in  a 
hollow  tree  near  our  place  of  work.  I  am  sorry 
we  never  thought  of  them  till  this  moment.  But 
*  out  of  sight,  out  of  iJiind,'  you  know.  Shall  I 
get  them  ?    I  can  have  them  here  in  ten  minutes." 

"  They  will  be  rather  light  for  digging  in  that 
rock,"  returned  his  father,  "  but  no  doubt  quite 
as  efficient  as  the  clumsy  substitutes  I  am  now 
trying  to  forge.     By  all  means  bring  them." 

It  was  now  long  after  dark,  but  so  earnest  were 
they  to  be  ready  for  work  in  the  marsh  early  in 
the  morning  tliat  the  two  boys  lighted  a  torch  of 
rich  pine  and  went  to  a  cypress  swamp,  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  distant,  and  returned  with  an  arm-load 
each  of  the  tools  left  there  in  concealment.  The 
adzes   promised,  on   examination,  to  be   all  that 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  353 

could  be  expected,  and  with  this  assurance  the  now 
weary  laborers  ceased  their  work  and  yielded  them- 
selves to  the  delights  of  rest. 

The  sun  was  scarcely  half  an  hour  high  the  next 
morning  before  the  company,  consisting  of  Dr. 
Gordon,  Robert,  Harold,  and  Sara,  in  two  canoes, 
were  on  their  way  to  the  stranded  vessel.  They 
found  her  just  as  she  had  been  left  the  day  before, 
without  any  indication  of  having  been  visited. 
Torgah^s  rough  figure  of  the  ground-mole  re- 
mained as  it  was,  and  so  did  the  mark  appended 
to  it  by  Harold,  who  said  that  Torgah  would  re- 
cognize it  as  his,  being  the  figure  of  a  squirrel  in 
sitting  posture,  with  something  in  its  paws,  and  ^ 
tail  curled  over  its  back. 

While  the  tide  was  down  they  worked  at  the 
lower  part  of  the  bank,  cutting  it  into  broad  and 
deep  channels  to  admit  the  timbers,  on  which,  as 
on  a  railroad,  the  vessel  was  to  pass  down  on 
rollers.  By  using  all  diligence,  these  channels 
were  excavated,  and  the  lower  edge  of  the  bank 
cut  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  passage  down  ; 
and  in  the  afternoon  they  went  to  the  nearest 
wooded  part  of  the  island  to  obtain  the  necessary 
timbers.  These  pieces  were  so  numerous  and  so 
unwieldly  that  no  more  could  be  done  that  day 
than  to  prepare  them  for  being  rolled  into  the 
water,  where  they  were  to  be  made  into  a  raft,  and 
pulled  or  poled  to  their  destined  place. 
X 


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354  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

• 

Late  that  evening  the  laborers  returned  home, 
weary  with  more  than  usual  toil,  and  rejoicing  in 
the  prospective  rest  of  the  next  day,  which  was 
the  Christian  Sabbath.  Dr.  Gordon  called  his 
family  together,  according  to  custom,  and  after  a 
few  verses,  slowly  and  solemnly  read  from  the 
Good  Book,  and  a  short  hymn  of  praise,  they  united 
in  a  prayer,  in  which  all  acknowledged  their  obli- 
gations to  the  kind  Providence  which,  in  the  course 
of  the  week  now  closing,  had  delivered  a  portion 
of  them  from  death,  restored  them  all  so  happily 
to  each  other,  and  promised  to  bless  them  in  time 
to  come.  These  allusions  were  so  touching  that 
Dr.  Gordon's  voice  trembled  as  he  gave  them  ut- 
terance, and  all  arose  from  their  knees  with  a 
grateful  consciousness  of  having  been  drawn  nearer 
than  ever  to  the  great  Being  of  beings. 


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CHAPTER  XXIX, 

BEA  UTIFUL  DA  WN—  LA  WYER'S  REMARK— HO  W  DO 
WE  KNOW  THERE  IS  A  QODf 


HE  Sabbath  dawned  with  rare  beauty. 
First  a  gray  belt  of  pure,  soft  light,  fol- 
lowing close  upon  the  light  of  the  de- 
parted moon,  streaked  the  lower  margin 
of  the  sky,  extending  rapidly  north  and  south,  and 
spreading  higher,  brighter,  and  more  beautiful. 
Then  followed  a  rosy  tinge,  contrasting  sweetly 
with  the  pure  gray,  like  the  hue  of  health  upon  a 
fair  young  cheek.  Finally  came  the  rich,  golden 
light  that  immediately  precedes  the  burst  of  glo- 
rious day. 

"  Often  as  I  have  looked  upon  scenes  like  this,^' 
said  Mrs.  Mcintosh  to  her  sister,  "  t  never  can 
witness  this  sudden  burst  of  light  without  feeling 
my  pulse  quicken,  and  my  heart  throb." 

*'  And  I  never  can  witness  this  gradual,  yet  rapid 
growth  of  day,  from  dawn  to  dazzling  light,  with- 
out thinking  of  that  beautiful  Bible  image,  '  The 

355 


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356  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

« 

path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light,  that 
shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day.'''  — 
Prov.  iv.  18. 

But  the  eye  was  not  the  only  organ  of  sense  re- 
galed that  morning.  As  the  light  thus  rose,  and 
spread,  and  brightened,  the  woods  became  vocal 
with  innumerable  songsters.  The  brown- winged 
thrush,  known  generally  as  the  thrasher y  and  by 
some  as  the  French  mocking-bird,*  leaped  from 
the  spray  where  it  had  spent  the  night,  selected  a 
spot  better  suited  for  song,  and  then  gave  utter- 
ance to  that  delicious  liquid  music  by  which  it 
worships  its  Creator,  first  of  the  birds  in  the  open- 
ing dawn,  and  last  of  them  ifi  the  dusk.  In  a 
few  minutes  it  was  followed  by  the  red  bird,  or 
crimson  finch,  repeating  its  few,  but  never  weary- 
ing notes.  Then  came  the  mocking-bird,  or  gray 
thrush,  imitating  every  other  bird  of  the  forest 
and  of  the  sea-shore,  and  by  its  grace  of  utterance 
making  those  notes  pleasant  which  originally  were 
discordant ;  and  with  it  came  the  wrens,  and  other 
sweet-voiced  birds,  uniting  in  the  soft  chorus  that 
rose  from  the  grand  orchestra  of  nature. 

It  was  not  to  the  eyes  and  ears  of  all  the  deni- 
zens of  the  tent,  however,  that  these  scenes  and 
sounds  brought  pleasure.     Dr.  Gordon   and  the 

*  It  imitates  other  birds  very  sweetly,  and  in  some  of  its 
notes  excels  even  the  gray  mocking-bird  that  is  so  generally 
admired. 


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MAliOONER'S  ISLAND.  357 

boys  were  locked  in  slumber  till  long  after  the  sun 
had  risen.  The  ladies,  who  had  left  the  tent  so 
quietly  as  not  to  disturb  the  tired  sleepers,  enjoyed 
exceedingly  the  sweetness  of  this. rural  Sabbath 
morning,  and  sitting  down  with  Mary  and  Frank, 
read  devoutly  together  the  Psalm  which  says: 
"  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the 
firmament  sheweth  His  handiwork,"  and  as  they 
read  they  looked  lovingly  "  through  Nature  up  to 
Nature's  God." 

When  the  family  assembled  at  morning  worship. 
Dr.  Gordon  read  the  same  Psalm,  the  nineteenth, 
noticing  such  changes  in  the  meaning  as  were  au- 
thorized by  the  marginal*  readings,  and  then, 
alluding  to  what  he  had  been  informed  by  his  wife 
of  the  pleasant  recognition  of  God  in  his  works, 
he  said,  — 

"  I  was  present  once  when  an  intelligent  oiBcer 
in  the  church,  who  was  a  lawyer  by  profession, 
suggested  to  his  pastor  the  propriety  of  preaching 
on  the  evidences  of  the  Divine  existence 

" '  You  surprise  me,'  said  his  pastor.  ^  Do  you 
suppose  a  discourse  on  that  subject  to  be  called 

*  These  notes,  or  readings,  found  in  all  Reference  Bibles, 
were  placed  there  by  the  authorized  translators  as  of  equal 
authority  with  the  ordinary  text.  It  is  common  with  stu- 
dents of  the  Scripture  to  read  both,  and  it  is  not  unusual 
for  them  to  adopt  the  marginal  reading  in  preferenoe  to  the 
text 


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358  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

for  ?  Are  there  any  Atheists  among  us  ?  or  even 
persons  who  doubt  that  there  is  a  God?' 

"  The  lawyer  smiled.  *  My  dear  sir,  said  he, 
*-my  profession  calls  me  to  an  intimite  acquaint- 
ance with  the  worst  part  of  the  public  mind,  as 
yours  calls  you  to  an  acquaintance  with  the  better. 
It  is  my  deliberate  conviction  that  at  least  one  in 
every  three  or  four  of  the  people  have  no  real  be- 
lief in  the  existence  either  of  a  God,  or  of  an  im- 
mortal soul.' 

"  The  pastor  was  shocked,  and  so,  I  confess,  was 
I,  for  the  lawyer  was  a  man  of  eminence,  and  was 
not  apt  to  speak  unadvisedly.  I  have  thought 
many  times  since  that  it  would  be  well  for  most 
people  to  review  occasionally  the  foundations  of 
their  faith,  and  even  to  ask  themselves,  How  do  I 
know  there  is  a  God,  a  soul,  a  hereafter  ?'' 

Without  saying  a  word  in  reply  to  these  points 
of  inquiry.  Dr.  Gordon  left  the  subject,  fully  per- 
suaded that  it  would  be  brought  up  at  some  future 
time.  In  this  expectation  he  was  not  mistaken,  for, 
in  the  course  of  the  day,  Robert  and  Harold,  who 
had  been  observed  in  more  than  one  earnest  con- 
versation during  the  intervals  of  their  informal 
worship,  came  to  him  and  said, — 

"  We  no  more  doubt  there  is  a  God  than  we 
doubt  there  is  a  world,  and  that  we  are  living  in 
it.  But  how  could  we  prove  this  to  a  person  who 
does  not  believe  it,  and  is  not  willing  to  believe  ?  '^ 


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DR.  GORDON,  ROBERT,  AND  HAROLD— Pcr^e  868. 


Digitized  by  CjOOQIC 


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3IAR00NER'S  ISLAND.  359 

"  You  cannot  do  it,"  he  promptly  replied  ;  "  710 
man  can  do  it.  '  The  blindest  of  all  people  are 
those  who  are  unwilling  to  see.'  The  Great 
Teacher  has  said  of  such  that  '  if  one  came  to 
them  from  the  dead,  yet  would  they  not  believe.' 
And  it  is  probable  that,  even  when  the  God  of 
Israel  revealed  himself  in  the  thunderings  and 
lightnings  of  Sinai,  and  spoke  to  the  people  by  an 
audible  voice,  there  were  some  present  who  ques- 
tioned whether  all  this  display  was  not  the  pro- 
duct of  jugglery  and  art.  You  know  that  when 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  performed  those 
wonderful  works,  which  compelled  one  man  to  say, 
'  We  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God, 
because  no  man  can  do  these  miracles  that  thou 
doest  except  God  be  with  him ;'  others,  who  could 
not  deny  his  superhuman  powers,  but  who  were 
not  so  ingenuous,  endeavored  to  satisfy  themselves 
and  each  other  by  saying,  '  He  doth  not  cast  out 
devils,  but  by  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  the  devils.' 
I,  therefore,  say  that  you  cannot  convince  a  person 
that  there  is  a  God  until  you  gain  his  sincere  con- 
sent to  believe  on  being  furnished  with  the  evi- 
dence." 

"  But  suppose,  uncle,"  said  Harold,  "  that  you 
meet  one  who  says,  '  I  do  not  doubt,  only  I  do  not 
believe,  as  I  wish.  That  there  is  a  world  around 
me  I  know,  because  I  see  it,  and  that  there  are 
persons  around  me  I  know,  because  I  see,  and 


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360  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

hear,  and  have  dealings  with  them ;  but  God  I 
have  never  seen,  nor  heard,  nor  dealt  with,  and 
therefore  I  cannot  believe  in  him  as  I  wish;' 
what  would  you  say  to  him?'' 

"  That  his  case  was  like  that  of  most  other  peo- 
ple," his  uncle  replied.  "  Comparatively  few  be- 
lieve in  the  existence  of  a  God,  further  than  not 
to  call  it  into  question.  They  simply  take  it  for 
granted,  without  really  believing  it.  We  believe 
those  things  only  which  influence  us  so  far  that  we 
may  be  said  to  live  by  them,  or  in  view  of  them,  as 
truth.  For  example,  we  believe  or  live  by  the 
truth  that  two  and  two  make  four,  and  no  one  can 
persuade  us  to  live  by  the  assertion  that  they  make 
five.  So  a  real  belief  in  the  existence  of  a  God  is 
such  a  practical  conviction  of  its  truth  that  we 
live  by  it.  Now,  your  question  is.  How  shall  a 
person  believe  that  there  is  a  God,  just  as  he  be- 
lieves that  there  is  a  world,  and  that  there  are 
persons  around  him  ?  and  my  answer  is,  that  he 
must  first  gain  his  own  consent  to  live  by  the  truth 
in  the  one  case,  as  he  does  in  the  other. 

"  Well,  now,  suppose  he  has  gained  his  own  con- 
sent, fully,  freely,  and  that  he  is  on  the  look  out 
for  evidence ;  you  ask  what  evidence  can  be  given 
him.  I  answer — "  Dr.  Gordon  paused,  looked 
around  for  an  illustration,  then  seeing  a  bj^k  in 
Harold's  hand  —  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament, 
which  he  had  been  reading  —  he  went  on  to  say, — 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  361 

"  How  came  you,  Harold,  with  that  book?" 
"  It  is  my  own,  sir ;  I  brought  it  from  home," 
he  replied. 

"  But  how  came  it  into  your  possession  ?" 
"  My  mother  bought  it  for  me  in  Montgomery." 
"  But  how  came  the  merchant  there  with  it?" 
^'  I  suppose  he  bought  it  from  somebody  else." 
"But  how  came  that  somebody  else  with  it?" 
"  He  bought  it,  probably,  from  the  person  that 
made  it." 

"But  why  do  you  suppose  any  one  made  it?" 
"  Because  it  is  a  book,  and  it  could  not  make 
itself" 

"  But  why  not  suppose  that  it  came  by  chance  ?  " 
"  I  cannot  suppose  that,"  replied  Harold,  "  be- 
cause chance  could  not  possibly  put  together  so 
many  things  as  are  necessary  to  make  a  book  — 
the  paper,  the  printing,  the  binding ;  and  more 
than  that,  there  are  many  other  books  exactly  like 
this,  and  if  chance  could  by  any  possibility  make 
one,  it  ocfUld  not  be  expected  to  make  more.  It 
must  have  had  a  maker.  Indeed,  every  book  must 
liave  had  a  maker ;  and  as  I  come  to  think  of  it, 
every  page  in  every  book  must  have  had  a  maker, 
— yes,  and  every  word,  every  letter,  every  part  of 
the  paper,  printing,  and  putting  together." 

"  Very  well,"  said  his  uncle.  "  Now  look  at 
that  oak-tree.  It  has  upon  it  more  leaves  than 
there  are  pages  in  your  book.     Every  leaf  is  com- 


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362  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

posed  of  a  mid-rib  and  side-ribs,  and  fibres  cross- 
ing from  one  side  to  the  other,  like  beautiful  lace- 
work,  and  the  spaces  between  are  filled  with  green 
matter,  glossy  on  one  side  to  shed  rain,  and  on  the 
other  side  occupied  with  numberless  pores  to  ad- 
mit air  and  moisture.  These  pores  are  most  in- 
geniously contrived,  being  in  shape  somewhat  like 
a  long  letter  0,  sharp  at  both  ends,  and  made  of 
such  material,  in  such  way  that  in  dry  weather 
they  open  wide  to  catch  all  the  moisture  possible, 
and  in  wet  weather  they  contract  so  that  no  mois- 
ture can  enter.  These  ingenious  little  pores  are 
more  numerous  in  each  leaf  than  the  letters  are  on 
each  page  of  your-  book.  Besides  these  wonder- 
fully constructed  leaves,  there  are  flowers  and 
fruits  to  be  reckoned  in  our  account,  each  as  won- 
derful in  its  way  as  the  leaf.  Then  there  are  the 
roots,  by  tens  of  thousands,  little  hair-like  things, 
each  with  its  tiny  mouth  wide  open  at  the  end  for 
sucking  up  water  from  the  earth.  And  there  is 
the  wood  itself,  a  wonderful  structure,  made  up  of 
tubes  bundled  together,  each  with  its  apparatus  of 
valves  and  pumps  for  forcing  the  water  twenty, 
thirty,  fifty  feet  high,  to  the  topmost  branch.  Su- 
peradded to  all  these,  and  more  wonderful  still,  is 
its  power  of  elaborating  seeds,  in  each  of  which  is 
wrapped  up,  in  small  compass,  a  young  tree  of  its 
own  kind,  and  then  of  dropping  that  seed  at  the 
time  of  the  year  suited  for  its  growing  up  and  be- 
comirlor  a  tree  like  itself. 


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BIAROONER'S  ISLAND,  363 

"K"ow  compare  the  tree  with  the  book.  Which 
has  the  greater  number  of  parts  put  together  ?" 

"  The  tree/'  answered  Harold,  ■'  for  the  book  is 
made  up  of  paper,  print,  and  binding,  while  the 
tree  is  made  up  of  leaf,  stem,  fruit,  wood,  bark, 
roots,  and  each  of  these  made  up  of  many  parts  in 
itself.  The  tree  has,  beyond  comparison,  the 
greater  number  of  parts.'* 

"  What  is  the  probability  that  chance  put  their 
various  parts  together  to  make  a  tree  ?  " 

"  It  is  not  probable  at  all,''  he  replied.  "  It  is 
just  nakedly  imposmble." 

"  Well,"  said  his  uncle,  "  you  have  in  this  illus- 
tration one  of  the  arguments  from  nature  for  be- 
lieving that  there  is  a  God.  For  to  say  it  is  im- 
possible for  the  tree  to  have  come  by  chance,  is 
equivalent  to  saying  that  it  must  have  had  a 
Maker.  And  what  is  thus  true  of  this  tree  must 
be,  in  like  manner,  true  of  every  tree,  and  shrub, 
and  vine,  and  blade  of  grass,  and,  much  more,  of 
every  bird  and  beast,  reptile  and  fish,  worm  and 
insect.     This  Maker  off  all  things  we  call  GodJ' 

At  this  point,  Robert  put  in  an  inquiry, — 

"  How  would  you  reply  to  one  who  should  con- 
tend that  the  trees  we  see  now  are  only  so  many 
parts  of  a  series,  without  beginning  or  end  ;  that 
they  have  always  been  growing  and  propagating 
their  kind?" 

"  I  would  reply  to  him,"  said  his  father,  "  that 


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36rl  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

his  theory  only  removed  the  difficulty  a  few  steps 
further  back,  for  every  numerical  series  must  have 
a  beginning,  and,  moreover,  it  is  not  only  of  the 
first  tree  of  each  series  that  our  argument  holds 
good,  but  of  every  tree  in  itself.  Each  bears  its 
own  testimony.  More  than  this,  if  the  science  of 
geology  teaches  anything  with  certainty,  it  teaches 
that  the  time  was  when  trees  did  not  grow  upon 
the  earth, — the  soil  and  temperature  of  our  planet's 
surface  did  not  admit  of  their  growth.  They  came 
after  certain  other  changes;  therefore  tliey  had  a 
beginning^  and  therefore  they  must  have  had  a 
Creator.'' 

"I  am  satisfied,"  said  Robert,  "for,  so  far  as  I 
can  see,  one  of  three  things  must  be  true :  that 
this  tree  came  into  existence  by  chance;  or  that  it 
always  existed  in  kind;  or  that  it  had  a  Creator. 
But  it  did  not  always  exist;  it  could  not  have  come 
by  chance;  therefore  it  must  have  been  created." 

A  new  form  of  the  thought  here  occurred  to  Dr. 
Gordon,  and  he  said, — 

"To  calculate  the  probability  or  improbability  of 
so  simple  a  thing  as  a  book  being  produced  by 
chance,  let  us  suppose  that  all  the  paper,  and  type, 
ink,  and  other  materials  necessary  for  printing  and 
bindingare  provided;  and,  if  you  will,  all  the  frames 
and  cases,  and  levers  and  rollers  used  in  printing^ 
besides.  Let  us  suppose,  too,  that  in  producing 
a  book,  there  is  necessary  a  certain  degree  of  blind 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  365 

power,  say  a  one-horse  power,  and  that  this  is 
provided  in  the  shape  of  a  neat  little  waterfall. 
Let  us  see  now  how  many  parts  will  be  necessary 
to  make  our  book.  In  an  ordinary  New  Testa- 
ment, there  are, — counting  the  headings  of  chap- 
ters, numbering  of  verses,  punctuation  marks,  etc., — 
at  least  half  a  million  of  letters,  figures,  and  other 
marks,  each  requiring  a  type.  We  will  put  all 
these  types,  with  the  necessary  paper,  ink,  leather, 
thread,  pasteboard,  rollers,  printing  frames,  etc., 
into  a  bag,  jumbled  together,  and  carry  them  to 
that  ijeat  little  waterfall  of  one-horse  power,  and 
there  empty  them  all  in.  How  long  will  we  prob- 
ably have  to  wait  before  we  may  reasonably  ex- 
pect to  see  an  elegant  little  copy  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, like  that  Harold  has,  come  out  of  the 
water?" 

Robert  laughed,  and  Harold  clapped  liis  hands 
with  delight. 

"  We  should  wait  forever ! "  they  answered,  "and 
not  see  it  then.'' 

"The  same  may  be  said,  only  with  incompara- 
bly more  emphasis,"  Dr.  Gordon  added,  "of  every 
one  of  the  millions  upon  millions,  and  the  billions 
upon  billions  of  trees,  and  shrubs,  and  animals  on 
earth." 

"How  absolutely  certain  it  is  that  there  must 
be  a  God!"  said  Harold;  then  added  in  a  soft, 
sad  tone,  "  I  wish  I  knew  more  of  him." 


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366 


MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 


**  There  are  three  ways  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  him/'  responded  his  uncle.  "One  is  by 
studying  him  in  his  Works,  as  we  have  just  been 
attempting  in  that  tree.  Another,  far  more  direct 
and  satisfactory,  is  to  study  him  in  his  Word. 
And  a  third,  still  more  satisfactory,  indeed  the 
only  way  to  make  the  other  modes  effectual,  is  by 
Intercourse  with  him.  In  all  these  modes  of 
study  we  need  no  other  earthly  aid  than  a  willing 
heart.'' 


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CHAPTER  XXX. 


WORK  IN  THE  MARSH^NOVEL  DRAUGHT-HORSE-^ 
SEARCH  FOR  BOAT  AGAIN— "  PARBUCKLING"  — 
BALKY  MACHINERY— ''  TIRED  NATURE'S  SWEE7 
RESTORER*'—  UNWELCOME  VISITORS— A  STERN 
CHASE— INDIAN  YELL  — SUCCESSFUL   WORK. 


HE  work  proposed  for  Monday  was  such 
as  Dr.  Gordon  foresaw  would  require 
the  exercise  of  all  their  powers,  assisted 
by  whatever  mechanical  contrivances 
could  be  commanded.  At  a  very  early  hour,  there- 
fore, he  called  together  his  working  force,  and  went 
first  to  the  pirate  wreck,  from  which  he  brought 
away  a  number  of  pulleys  and  several  coils  of  rope, 
large  and  small,  which  he  had  observed  on  a  for- 
mer visit,  together  with  some  strong  canvas  bags, 
and  as  many  cannon-balls  as  the  two  boats  could 
conveniently  carry  with  the  previous  freight,  in- 
cluding now  the  box  of  Mexican  dollars.  The 
boys  were  curious  to  know  what  he  proposed  to  do 
with  the  cannon-balls,  but  this  he  refused  to  tell 
them,  saying, — 

"  You  will  learn  in  due  time,  and  find  that  they 

307 


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368  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

will  add  greatly  to  our  power,  exactly  at  the  mo- 
ment when  we  most  feel  its  need.  In  the  mean- 
time, however,  I  will  take  occasion  to  say  that  in 
moving  very  heavy  weights,  like  the  one  we  now 
propose,  no  better  roller  can  be  devised  than  can- 
non-balls moving  in  a  solid  iron  groove.  Large 
brick  houses,  chimneys  and  all,  are  sometimes 
moved  in  this  way.  But  as  we  have  no  iron 
grooves  for  the  pathway  of  our  balls,  and  as  the 
weight  of  our  vessel  would  be  apt  to  bury  them  in 
a  pathway  of  wood,  we  must  content  ourselves 
with  wooden  rollers  instead." 

From  the  pirate  wreck  they  returned  to  the 
tent  to  breakfast,,  and  leaving  there  the  box  of 
silver,  resumed  afterward  their  course  to  the  pilot 
boat,  where  they  discharged  their  freight  of  can- 
non-balls, and  went  with  their  ropes  and  pulleys 
to  the  place  where  the  timbers  lay  ready  for  trans- 
portation. The  work  of  removing  them  occupied 
hours,  and  many  and  ingenious  were  the  methods 
devised  for  getting  the  cumbrous  masses  to  the 
water.  No  doubt  persons  of  a  mechanical  turn 
would  be  interested  to  know  what  these  methods 
were';  but  all  persons  have  not  this  taste,  and  in 
deference  to  them  there  will  be  only  one  of  the  de- 
vices described,  and  that  on  account  of  its  novelty. 

Most  of  the  logs  had  been  removed  by  rollers, 
laid  on  the  bare  ground.  In  some  cases  where  the 
soil  was  soft  and  sandy,  or  otherwise  obstructive, 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  3ft9 

the  difl&cultywas  remedied  by  the  laying  down  of 
a  pair  of  straight  parallel  poles,  as  a  railway  upon 
which  the  rollers  moved  as  fast  as  the  pullers  and 
pushers  could  expect.  One  of  the  logs,  however, 
was  of  more  than  usual  weight,  and  its  passage 
was  obstructed  not  only  by  a  soft  soil  requiring 
the  use  of  the  railway,  but  by  a  rise  in  the  ground : 
and  so  difficult  was  the  task  of  making  it  travel, 
that  Dr.  Gordon  was  on  the  point  of  giving  it  up 
and  of  cutting  another  in  its  stead.  At  this  mo- 
ment a  bright  idea  occurred  to  him.  The  selected 
pathway  led  between  two  trees  with  long  pendant 
branches,  covered  with  grapevines.  Pointing  to 
them  he  said. 

"I  will  make  these  trees  and  vines  help  carry 
this  log  over  the  rising  ground." 

The  boys  looked  on- with  curiosity,  and  rendered 
all  needful  assistance  without  being  able  to  con- 
ceive how  it  was  that  trees  and  vines  could  be  har- 
nessed to  a  load ;  but  they  were  soon  delighted 
with  the  result.  Several  grapevines  were  cut  and 
attached  firmly  to  one  end  of  the  log,  when  the 
other  ends  were  drawn  forward  and  fastened  to 
long,  elastic  branches  of  the  trees,  which  had  been 
strained  backward  as  far  as  their  united  strength 
could  draw  them. 

"  Each  one  of  these  limbs,"  said  Dr.  Gordon, 
"  is  pulling  with  a  three  or  four-man  power.  I 
think  by  the  time  we  have  put  three  or  four  of 
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370  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

them  to  work,  there  will  be  little  need  for  our 
assistance,  until  their  force  is  spent. 

"  Live  and  lam !  as  old  Tom  Starboard  used  to 
say,''  exclaimed  Harold.  "  But  I  confess  that  a 
standing  tree  is  one  of  the  last  things  I  should 
have  thought  of  using  as  a  draught-horse ! " 

"The  device  is  not  mine,"  said  his  uncle.  "I 
read  of  it  as  a  method  practised  by  some  of  the 
South  American  Indians.  Indeed,  I  know  a 
hunter  who  is  in  the  habit  of  lifting  a  heavy  deer 
to  his  horse's  crupper  by  the  help  of  a  bent  limb." 

On  being  delivered  at  the  waterside,  these  logs 
were  bound  together  into  a  raft,  and,  by  the  united 
action  of  the  rising  tide,  a  slight  breeze,  and  the 
strong  pull  of  two  pairs  of  oars,  came  soon  to  their 
destination.  Then,  each  was  put  as  near  as  possi- 
ble in  place  and  fastened,  to  await  a  further  mov- 
ing up  with  the  rising  tide.  After  which,  Dr. 
Gordon  set  all  hands  to  work  emptying  the  vessel 
of  its  ballast  and  other  movable  weights,  and  pre- 
paring to  lift  her  from  her  bed  in  the  mud. 

His  plan  for  effecting  this,  with  the  small  force 
at  his  disposal,  was  as  follows:  First  of  all  he 
fitted  a  strong  bolster  of  wood  under  the  bow  to 
receive  the  strain  of  the  levers,  and  wedged  it  close 
up  with  smaller  pieces,  so  as  to  diffuse  the  pressure 
over  a  large  surface.  Under  this  bolster,  which 
was  purposely  laid  on  the  surface  of  the  mud,  he 
inserted  the  flattened  ends  of  three  strong  levers. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  371 

each  about  twenty-five  feet  long,  with  its  other 
end  lifted  about  fifteen  feet  into  the  air.  Under 
these  levers,  close  to  their  lower  ends,  and  resting 
on  the  rock,  was  a  solid  log  of  wood  for  a  fulcrum. 
The  elevated  ends  of  the  levers  were  connected  by 
a  stout  bar  of  wood  lashed  to  them,  and  on  this 
bar  were  fixed  three  pulleys,  each  with  a  rope 
passed  through  it,  ready  for  use. 

"  Now,  boys,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "  I  will  show 
you  the  use  of  the  cannon-balls,  and  if  my  calcula- 
tion is  correct,  you  will  see  the  bow  of  the  boat 
begin  to  rise  from  the  mud  before  we  have  used 
them  all." 

With  these  words,  he  took  one  of  the  canvas 
bags,  loaded  it  with  about  two  hundred  pounds' 
weight  of  balls,  and  drew  it  up  by  the  pulley  to 
the  end  of  the  central  lever. 

"  There  goes  a  weight,"  said  he,  "  which,  with 
the  leverage,  ought  to  lift  from  two  to  three 
thousand  pounds  at  the  lower  end." 

In  loading  and  drawing  up  a  second  bag  in  like 
manner,  to  one  of  the  outside  levers,  the  boys  heard 
a  sound  under  the  vessel  as  of  "sucking"  in  the 
mud. 

"  She  is  rising !  she  is  rising ! "  shouted  Harold. 

But  she  did  not  rise  until  the  third  bag  was 
loaded  and  drawn  up,  when  with  a  loud  "suck- 
ing" noise  under  the  vessel,  the  elevated  ends  of 
the  levers  sank  gracefully  down,  and  bolster  and 
vessel  were  lifted  the  greater  part  of  a  foot. 


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372  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

As  this  took  place,  the  boys  gave  a  loud  "Hurra!" 
and  Dr.  Gordon  said,  — 

*'  A  few  more  sucb  lifts,  first  at  one  end,  then  at 
the  other,  will  raise  her  high  enough  to  admit  the 
rollers  underneath,  and  then  heigho !  for  a  travel 
to  the  water." 

"And  now  what?"  asked  Robert. 

"First,  to  make  that  secure  which  we  have 
gained,"  he  replied,  and  with  that  he  blocked  up 
the  bofeter  and  wedged  it  fast,  to  keep  it  from 
sinking. 

The  stem  was  then  treated  in  like  manner  as 
the  bow  had  been,  and  they  were  preparing  to 
elevate  the  bows  still  more,  when  the  increasing 
tide  compelled  them  to  desist.  This  rise  of  the 
water,  although  arresting  the  work  of  raising  the 
vessel,  was  an  important  help  in  bringing  the 
heavy  timbers  to  their  places,  where  they  were 
made  fast,  in  readiness  for  the  next  day's  use. 

"Well,  boys,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "as  we  are 
driven  from  our  work  here,  let  us  take  advantage 
of  the  high  water  to  look  for  our  lost  boat." 

They  re-embarked,  and  going  up  the  so-called 
river,  which  was  only  a  small  arm  of  the  sea  en- 
closing their  island,  they  pushed  their  canoes  into 
every  little  opening  of  the  marsh,  where  the  in- 
creasing tide  promised  water  enough  for  the  search. 
The  declining  sun  shone  full  in  the  direction  they 
looked  and  strongly  illuminated  ever}'  object  in 
tlie  marsh,  but  their  search  was  in  vain.     The  boat 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  373 

was  certainly  not  there,  possibly  carried  back  to  sea 
with  the  receding  tide  of  the  gale,  or,  what  was  more 
probable,  driven  toward  the  mainland,  and  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  some  of  the  dwellers  on  the  coast. 

All  were  saddened  at  the  loss,  and  their  spirits 
seemed  so  much  depressed  that  Dr.  Gordon  roused 
himself  to  present  some  theme  that  would  divert 
their  minds.  As  the  boys  had  expressed  so  much 
pleasure  in  the  working  of  the  loaded  levers,  he 
took  this  occasion  to  interest  them  in  another  talk 
on  the  subject  of  mechanical  powers,  and  of  machin- 
ery in  tlie  general. 

'^In  bringing  our  logs  to  the  water,"  said  he, 
"we  used  sometimes  the  simple  lever,  and  some- 
times the  pulley,  but  there  is  another  mode  of 
operating  which  partially  combines  the  principles 
of  both  powers,  without  using  the  instrument 
peculiar  to  either;  it  is  called  parbuckling.  This 
is  generally  practised  by  sailors  and  stevedores  in 
raising  or  lowering  casks  and  other  heavy  round 
bodies  on  an  inclined  plane;  and  there  are  two 
forms  of  it.  One  is  practised  by  passing  one  or 
more  cords  once  round  the  barrel,  log,  or  other 
object  to  be  moved,  making  one  end  fast  in  the 
line  of  motion,  and  pulling  at  the  end  that  is  free. 
The  other  is  by  making  one  end  of  the  rope  fast 
to  the  object  itself,  then  wrapping  it  several  times 
round  and  pulling  at  the  loose  end.  In  both  these 
cases  the  power  is  greatly  increased. 


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374  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

m 

"  And  speaking  of  rolling,  sometimes  an  object 
not  naturally  round  can  be  made  to  roll  by  fasten- 
ing to  its  irregular  sides  whatever  may  be  neces- 
sary to  give  it  roundness ;  and  for  a  reason  some- 
what akin  to  this,  a  barrel  fuU  of  liquid,  or  of  any- 
thing else  movable,  is  more  easily  rolled  than  one 
that  is  only  half  full/' 

Having  discussed  these  points  sufficiently  to  get 
them  fully  in  mind,  he  went  on  to  say : — 

"  The  other  day  I  gave  you  a  useful  rule  for 
determining  what  operations  can  be  effected  by 
machinery.  I  will  now  give  you  one  to  guard 
against  needless  discouragement  in  the  working  of 
a  balky  machine.  It  is  this, — that  what  a  machine 
has  been  made  to  do  once,  it  may  be  made  to  do 

TWICE,    THREE    TIMES,    ALWAYS,    AND    WITH 

CERTAINTY,  Until  worn  out, — provided  always, 
however,  that  the  circumstances  under  which  it  works 
are  the  same;  for  a  machine  driven  by  a  blind 
power  has  no  choice ;  it  must  yield  to  the  forces 
impressed  upon  it.'' 

With  this  instructive  conversation  they  made 
their  way  homeward,  while  the  sun  departed,  and 
the  shades  of  evening  gathered  round  them.  For- 
getting by  this  time  the  loss  of  the  boat,  and  re- 
membering only  the  successful  work  of  the*  day, 
they  reached  home  in  fine  spirits,  and  cheered  the 
hearts  of  the  others  with  the  prospect  of  launching 
their  little  vessel  the  next  day. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  375 

"The  sleep  of  the  laboring  man  is  sweet."* 
Next  to  love,  it  is  probably  the  most  perfect 
blessing  enjoyed  by  the  majority  of  mankind,  and 
when  love  and  sleep  can  be  enjoyed  together,  as 
in  the  case  of  mother. and  babe,  before  losing  con- 
sciousness, or  as  in  a  company  such  as  retired  early 
that  night  to  their  couches  in  the  marooners'  tent, 
earth  has  little  more  to  add.  There  was  a  poet 
living  at  that  very  time  who  seemed  to  appreciate 
the  blessing.     Said  he,  — 

"  Night  is  the  time  for  rest. 

IIow  sweet  when  labors  close 
To  gather  round  the  aching  breast 
The  curtains  of  repose ! 
Stretch  the  tired  limbs,  and  rest  the  head 
Upon  one's  own  delightful  bed."  f 

And  "  early  to  bed  "  is  the  secret  of  "  early  to 
rise."  This  is  as  true  of  people  as  of  their  poultry. 
The  student,  who,  to  avoid  interruptions,  is  com- 
pelled to  burn  the  midnight  lamp,  must  usually 
forego  the  privileges  of  early  day;  and  so  must  the 
midnight  moth  of  pleasure  that  flutters  around  the 
candle  of  dissipation.  Let  every  laborer  thank 
God  for  this  great  blessing,  conferred  more  freely 
upon  the  sweaty  brow  than  upon  the  crowned  head. 

At  the  time  of  day  usually  known  as  cock-crow- 
ing, but  in  this  case  marked  only  by  certain  quacks ! 

*Eccle3.,  V.  12. 

f  James  Montgomery. 


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376  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

and  twits !  from  the  poultry-house,  and  by  the  voice 
of  early  birds,  the  weary  laborers  of  the  day  before 
sprang  lightly  from  their  couches,  hastened  through 
their  simple  toilet,  and  met  together  at  breakfast. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  afterward,  the  thump  of 
oars  and  the  splash  of  water  sounded  from  the 
river  and  gradually  died  away  in  the  distance. 
The  launchers  were  returning  to  their  work.  They 
passed  cheerily  up  the  river,  discussing  the  various 
means  of  accomplishing  their  work,  wishing  they 
had  a  stronger  force,  and  wondering  why  Torgah 
and  Somassee  had  not  come,  ere  this,  to  their  assist- 
ance. 

On  doubling  a  point  of  marsh  near  their  place 
of  labor,  Sam's  sudden  "Eh !  eh !"  called  their  at- 
tention forward,  where  they  were  all  surprised  to 
see,  not  half  a  mile  distant,  the  Bellevue  boat  hurry- 
ing toward  sea  under  the  sturdy  strokes  of  four 
Indian  paddlers,  who  were  exerting  all  their 
strength  to  get  away,  while  the  head  of  a  fifth  lay 
reclining  upon  the  stern,  as  if  belonging  to  a  dead 
man,  or  to  one  unable  to  help  himself. 

"  Hallo  there ! "  shouted  Robert,  at  the  top  of 
his  voice. 

"Hat-is-chay!"  (Stop!)  " That  is  our  boat ! '' 
added  Harold  in  his  excitement,  mixing  -up  In- 
dian and  English. 

The  calls,  however,  were  not  regarded,  possibly 
not  heard,  for  three  furlongs  Ls  further  than  most 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  377 

voices  can  reach,  even  over  water.  At  Dr.  Gor- 
don's suggestion,  they  united  in  a  prolonged  hal- 
loo, each  giving  greater  ^impetus  to  his  voice  by 
curving  the  hands  around  the  mouth  as  a  sort  of 
speaking-trumpet.  Still  there  was  no  response ; 
and  the  only  indication  of  being  heard  was  a  slight 
inclination  of  the  head  by  one  of  the  Indians,  as 
if  for  the  purpose  of  observation. 

"  They  pretend  not  to  hear  us,"  said  Harold ; 
"  but  a  gun  they  cannot  fail  to  hear.  Suppose, 
uncle,  we  give  them  one.  They  will  know  by  this 
that  we  are  in  earnest,  and  armed  too." 

"  Sam's  musket  will  give  the  loudest  report," 
replied  Dr.  Gordon,  adopting  the  suggestion. 
"  Shoot  it  into  the  air,  Sam." 

The  piece,  heavily  loaded,  shook  the  air  like 
small  thunder.  Still  the  boat  held  on  its  way,  and 
the  paddles  moved  perceptibly  faster  and  dug  more 
deeply  into  the  rippling  water.  All  this  time  the 
two  canoes  had  been  urging  their  way  forward, 
scarcely  having  lost  a  stroke  of  the  oars,  yet 
scarcely  having  made  any  perceptible  gain  in  the 
chase.  They  were  now  abreast  of  the  stranded 
vessel. 

"  Harold,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "  drop  your  an- 
chor in  this  shallow  water,  and  come  aboard  here, 
you  and  Sam,  with  your  guns  and  oars.  Let  us 
see  whether  our  four  oars  cannot  outstrip  their  four 
paddles." 


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378  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

The  exchange  of  place  was  made  almost  without 
stopping,  and  all  hands  then  bent  themselves  to 
the  oars  with  such  vigdt  and  precision  that  the 
light  canoe  darted  through  the  water  in  successive 
leaps. 

"  We  shall  soon  overhaul  them  at  this  rate," 
said  Dr.  Gordon,  tying  his  white  handkerchief  to 
a  ramrod  as  a  flag  of  truce.  "  And  I  hope  as  soon 
as  they  see  that  we  come  with  peaceable  intent,  and 
that  they  cannot  get  away  from  us,  they  will  slacken 
speed,  and  come  to  a  parley.'' 

The  distance  between  pursuers  and  pursued  di- 
minished rapidly,  and  the  flag  gave  frequent  and 
significant  tokens  of  peace,  but  the  chased  boat 
showed  no  sign  of  slackening  speed,  or  of  exchang- 
ing words.  Dr.  Gordon  was  doubtful  what  to  do, 
for  they  were  coming  now  within  fair  rifle  range, 
and  it  must  soon  be  determined  whether  they  were 
to  fight  or  keep  the  peace.  Summoning  to  use  the 
few  words  of  Indian  language  that  could  be  com- 
manded, either  by  himself  or  by  Harold,  and  at 
the  same  time  waving  his  flag  of  peace,  he  called 
aloud  in  the  Muscogee  dialect, — 

"  Eesta-chattee  !  Hat-is-chay ! "  (Indian  !  stop !) 

Then,  as  one  of  them  turned  his  head  to  look. 
Dr.  Gordon  held  out  his  hand,  waving  thfe  white 
flag  and  saying,  "  Tuck-a-noy  !  tuck-a-noy  !  ^* 
(Money  !  money  !)  then  changing  to  the  Cherokee 
language,  he  hallooed,  "Tay-luh!  tah-lo-ne-ca ! " 
(Money  !  gold  money  !) 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  379 

It  was,  however,  all  in  vain.  The  boat  held  on 
her  way,  right  toward  the  surf,  that  broke  over  a 
low  sand-flat,  as  if  resolved  to  plunge  into  it  rather 
than  be  captured.  He  had  just  said,  "  I  fear  we 
shall  not  be  able  to  recover  her  without  a  fight, 
and  I  would  not  bring  that  on  for  ten  boats,"  when 
one  of  the  Indians  turned  suddenly  round  and  lev- 
elled his  rifle. 

A  small  jet  of  smoke  shot  several  yards  for- 
ward ;  then  there  was  a  slight  splash  in  the  water, 
followed  by  a  light  "tap,"  as  the  ball  buried  it- 
self deep  in  the  bow  of  the  canoe. 

"  A  pretty  decided  hint,"  said  Dr.  Gordon. 

"  The  villain ! "  exclaimed  Harold,  angered  be- 
yond control  by  this  act  of  wanton  hostility ;  then, 
snatching  up  his  rifle,  he  was  about  to  give  the 
boat  a  ball  in  return,  when  the  quiet  voice  of  his 
uncle  was  heard  saying, — 

"  Do  not  shoot  at  the  boat,  Harold.  Send  your 
ball  to  ricochet  on  the  water  beyond  her.  That 
will  show  that  we  could  hurt  them  if  we  would, 
but  that  our  intentions  are  peaceable.  Perhaps 
they  will  stop." 

Away  went  the  ball,  tipping  here  and  there" 
upon  the  now  roughening  surface,  and  throwing  * 
up  a  little  shower  of  spray  wherever  it  struck. 
The  Indians  seeing  the  ball  pass  far  beyond  them 
in  its  dangerous  play,  were  evidently  disturbed, 
for  they  turned  their  heads  back  to  see  if  more 


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380  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

balls  were  about  to  oome ;  still  they  pushed  on, 
Dr.  Gordon  then  said  to  Harold,  — 

"  Take  the  musket,  and  give  them  a  larger  ball 
in  the  same  way,  only  further  ahead/'  and  as  it 
went  the  flag  waved,  and  Dr.  Gordon  shouted  his 
mixed  dialects,  "  Hatischay !  tuckanoy !  tay-luh !  '^ 
etc.;  but  the  only  response  he  received,  as  the 
boat  neared  the  breakers,  was  the  levelling  of  an- 
other rifle,  which,  however,  was  not  discharged,  but 
accompanied  by  an  imperative  exclamation  in  In- 
dian that  sounded  as  if  it  were  the  Creek  word 
"  Hy-ee-bus-chay !"  (Be  ofi^!  or,  Go  away !) 

The  water  rolling  over  the  shoals  from  sea  was 
by  this  time  too  rough  for  the  canoe,  and  it  was 
manifest  that  she  could  not  safety  go  much  further. 
Dr.  Gordon  then  said, — 

^^  I  am  now  convinced  that  we  cannot  peaceably 
recover  our  boat.  Let  us  therefore  return.  We 
have  shown  these  marauders  that  we  can  fight  if 
we  choose,  and  that  we  are  not  afraid  of  them. 
No  doubt  their  object  in  making  for  this  rough 
water,  where  their  boat  can  live  and  our's  cannot, 
is  to  get  rid  of  us.  We  will,  therefore,  use  it  as 
*our  excuse  for  giving  up  the  chase." 

Harold's  countenance  indicated  great  disap- 
pointment, and  so,  in  a  degree,  did  Robert's.  Their 
blood  was  up ;  but  they  yielded  without  a  word 
of  remonstrance.  They  only  looked  longingly  at 
the  beautiful  boat  that  was  now  almost  ready  to 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  381 

plunge  into  the  surf  at  a  place  where  there  was  a 
partial  opening,  and  Harold  was  heard  to  mutter 
something  between  his  clenched  teeth  that  did  not 
sound  very  complimentary  to  the  persons  ahead. 
They  turned,  and  in  the  act  of  doing  so,  saw  the 
Indians  drop  their  paddles,  put  their  hands  to 
their  mouths,  and  work  their  fingers  very  fast 
against  their  lips.  A  second  afterward  there 
came  rattling  over  the  waters  a  shrill,  broken 
sound ;  it  was  the  Indians^  yell  of  triumph. 

The  chase  had  occupied  them  the  greater  part 
of  an  hour,  during  which  their  thoughts  had  been 
so  much  engrossed  with  what  was  before  them 
that  they  had  not  stopped  to  inquire  what  mis- 
chief might  have  been  enacted  at  the  pilot  boat. 
Directing  their  thoughts  now  to  that  point,  the 
oar-strokes  were  so  quickened  with  anxiety  that 
the  distance  was  soon  overpassed.  Hastily  moor- 
ing the  canoe,  they  sprang  ashore,  and  were  about 
to  hurry  around,  when  Dr.  Gordon  warned  them 
to  be  cautious. 

"  Hostile  visitors  have  been  here,"  he  said,  "  and 
there  is  no  conjecturing  what  traps  they  may  have 
laid  for  us." 

A  guarded  inspection  of  the  vessel  and  its  sur- 
roundings, however,  revealed  no  changes,  except 
the  disfiguration  of  Torgah's  tuckasseey  as  if  in 
contempt,  and  the  falling  of  one  of  the  long,  heavy 
levers,  which  seemed  to  have  inflicted  a  terrible 


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382  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

wound  on  some  one,  since  the  mud  just  beside  it 
was  marked  with  fresh  blood,  imperfectly  coverecl 
with  a  few  handfuls  of  trodden  weeds.  Several 
coils  of  the  smaller  rope  were  also  missing,  and  so 
was  Sam's  hatchet,  which  had  been  left  sticking  in 
one  of  the  timbers.  If  their  object  was  plunder, 
they  were  grievously  disappointed,  and  Robert 
expressed  the  hope  that  the  ill-luck  befalling  the 
one  whose  blood  they  saw,  would  deter  them  from 
any  future  visits  to  the  Enchanted  Island. 

Not  many  minutes  now  elapsed  before  they  were 
at  work  again  upon  their  launiih.  The  bow  and 
stern  were  alternately  lifted  and  blocked.  Three 
strong  railways  of  parallel  logs  were  laid  in  the 
channels  cut  for  them  in  the  rock.  On  each  of 
these  railways  was  laid  a  system  of  rollers,  kept 
in  place  by  strings  that  would  easily  break.  And 
between  these  rollers  and  the  vessel  some  stout 
timbers  were  inserted,  upon  which  the  vessel  was 
eased  down  from  the  blocks,  and  thesejropped  to 
wait  till  all  was  ready. 

By  the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  Dr.  Gordon, 
judging  that  the  tide  had  risen  sufficiently  for  their 
purpose,  stationed  Robert  and  Harold  at  the  two 
props  which  held  back  the  vessel.  Each  had  an 
axe  in  hand,  thrown  back,  and  ready  for  striking. 

^^Are  you  ready?" 

"  Aye,  aye." 

"Then  let  go  I" 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  383 

And  as  the  word  "go"  was  uttered,  each  axe 
fell  with  a  heavy  blow  upon  the  prop,  knocking 
it  away.  The  vessel  began  to  move.  The  under- 
lying timbers  gave  a  groan  as  the  heavy  burden 
they  bore  crushed  them  against  the  rock,  and  the 
pilot  boat  moved  with  increasing  speed,and  plunged, 
keel  foremost,  into  the  water,  where  she  lay  partly 
upon  her  beam  ends.  A  hawser  attached  to  one 
of  the  canoes,  and  pulled  by  the  stout  oars  of  Har- 
old and  Sam,  brought  the  stern  out  into  deeper 
water,  and  proved  that  she  was  fully  afloat. 

"  Now  for  ballast ! "  said  Dr.  Gordon. 

They  made  a  temporary  gangway  of  the  logs 
at  hand,  shouldered  or  lifted  between  them  the 
rough  "pigs"  of  iron,  each  of  fifty  or  one  hun- 
dred pounds'  weight,  laid  them  near  the  keel, 
when  their  weight  soon  caused  the  boat  to  right 
herself. 

"  It  may  not  be  safe  to  leave  her  at  this  place 
all  night,"  said  Dr.  Gordon.  "  I  fear  another  visit 
from  our  dark-skinned  friends.  We  must  tow  her 
to  the  island,  where  she  will  probably  be  protected 
by  their  superstitious  fears,  and  we  had  better  put 
aboard  of  her  all  we  wish  to  save  from  depreda- 
tion." 

They  gathered  up  the  anchor  and  cable,  the  lit-  ** 
tie  cannon,  which  had  been  buried  in  the  mud,  the 
broken  mast  and  spars,  in  fact,  everything  within 
reach  pertaining  to  the  vessel,  and  had  the  pleas- 


y  Google 


384  'MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

ure  of  seeing  her  follow  the  pull  of  the  two  ca- 
noes as  kindly  as  a  tame  buffalo  follows  the  cord 
passed  through  its  nose.  They  cast  anchor  near 
shore  in  deep  water,  at  a  place  which,  from  the 
excellent  sport  it  afforded,  had  been  named  by  the 
boys  Fish  Point. 


CHAPTER   XXX  I. 

CONSULTATION— PREPARE    TO  MOVE— SOMEBODY 
IN  THE  MARSH—  WHO  CAN  IT  BE?—  THE  TESTS, 

N  the  way  home  from  their  now  floating 
vessel.  Dr.  Gordon  and  the  boys  had 
time  to  think  and  talk  over  the  exciting 
circumstances  of  the  morning,  and  there 
arose,  in  consequence,  several  serious  inquiries . 
Would  it  be  proper  or  safe  to  leave  the  dear  ones 
at  the  tent  exposed  to  possible  hostilities  from  the 
Indians,  while  their  defenders  were  working,  as 
they  had  been,  miles  away  ?  Ought  they  not  to 
be  removed  at  once,  with  all  needful  effects,  to 
**  some  point  on  the  bluff,  where  all  would  be  in 
constant  communication  ?  If  so,  to  what  point, 
commanding  the  necessary  conveniences,  particu- 
larly of  water  ?   And  last,  though  not  least,  should 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  385 

anything  be  said  to  them  of  the  partial  collision 
with  the  Indians  that  morning  ? 

The  decision  on  these  points  was  very  prompt : 
The  family  ought  not  to  be  left  in  their  previous 
unprotected  condition;  they  should  be  removed 
at  once  to  the  bluff,  and  Harold  and  Robert  de- 
cided that,  although  the  water  at  the  spring  near 
the  live  oak,  where  they  first  pitched  their  tent, 
was  the  best  on  the  beach,  yet  that  to  be  had  at 
Fish  Point  could  be  endured  for  the  few  days  of 
their  probable  future  stay.  As  to  the  last  ques- 
tion. Whether  the  ladies  should  be  informed  of 
the  circumstances  of  the  morning,  Dr.  Gordon 
said, — 

"  By  all  means.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  pro- 
priety of  regarding  all  women  and  children  as 
cowards.  Some  of  them  are,  as  is  true  of  some  men, 
and  should,  therefore,  be  treated  as  such ;  but  no 
one  who  knows  the  mother  and  aunt  of  you  boys 
Mill  do  them  the  injustice  of  putting  them  in  that 
category;  no,  nor  Mary  either,  nor  even  little 
Frank.  Gentle  and  loving  as  they  are,  they  can 
probably  face  death  as  composedly  as  any  of  us ; 
and  I  believe,  too,  that  were  they  called  to  so  un- 
suitable an  employment,  they  would  help  us  in  an 
Indian  fight,  by  loading  our  guns  for  us,  or  by 
anything  else  they  could  do,  as  effectively  as  any 
other  persons  in  their  circumstances.  My  judg- 
ment is,  that  we  tell  them  the  whole  story.  More- 
Z 


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386  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

over,  by  so  doing,  we  shall  have  this  great  advan- 
tage, that  in  deciding  the  other  questions,  which 
concern  their  immediate  interests,  and  in  which 
they  have  a  right  to  be  heard  in  their  own  behalf, 
we  shall  be  able  to  unite  their  judgment  with  our 
own/' 

When  the  boats  came  within  earshot  of  home. 
Dr.  Gordon  called  upon  Sam  for  one  of  his  mellow 
boat  songs,  in  the  chorus  of  which  they  all  united, 
although  it  was  marked  by  no  excellence  except 
its  mild,  water-like  music ;  and  as  they  neared  the 
landing,  the  cheerful  halloo  of  the  boys  was  an- 
swered by  the  merry  shout  of  little  Frank,  who 
came  running  to  meet  them,  and  to  carry  his  fa- 
ther's gun  and  its  accoutrements. 

After  quietly  resting,  and  enjoying  each  other's 
company  for  a  time.  Dr.  Gordon  said  to  his  wife 
and  sister, — 

"  I  have  often  heard  the  nautical  proverb,  *  A 
stern  chase  is  a  long  chase,'  but  I  never  knew  by 
experience  what  it  was  until  to-day." 

He  then  described  the  incidents  of  the  morning, 
to  which  all  listened  with  profound,  and,  in  some 
degree,  painful,  attention. 

"  And  now,"  said  he,  "  arises  the  question, 
What  are  we  to  do  ?  We  must  go  on  with  our 
work,  which  it  is  not  possible  to  bring  to  the  tent, 
and  we  have  been  discussing  the  propriety  of  re- 
moving our  tent  to  the  work.    What  do  you  think 


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MAROONER^S  ISLAND.  387 

of  it  ?  I  do  not  ask  you  to  answer  without  re- 
flection. We  shall  soon  have  our  usual  evening 
worship,  and  I  think  that  all-important  questions 
concerning  household  interests  are  more  safely  de- 
cided under  the  influence  of  household  prayer." 

The  judgment,  when  called  for,  was  decided 
and  unanimous,  that  now  the  vessel  was  actually 
launched  and  anchored  on  the  island  side  of  the 
river,  it  was  far  preferable,  irrespective  of  danger 
from  Indians,  that  the  family  be  within  a  minute's 
reach  of  each  other,  rather  than  the  laborers  should 
)je  compelled  to  make  their  six  miles*  circuit  by 
water  twice  every  day. 

"  Remember,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "  the  work  of 
removal  and  of  fitting  up  with  comfort  will  prob- 
ably occupy  at  least  two  days,  even  if  we  should 
construct  a  raft  large  enough  to  carry  all  our  mov- 
ables at  once." 

"  But  why  carry  so  much,  and  why  do  much 
fitting  up?"  argued  Mrs.  Gordon.  "We  shall 
probably  be  here  but  a  few  days  more." 

"  Yes,"  Mrs.  Mcintosh  interjected,  "  and  during 
that  time  why  can  we  not  make  the  pilot  boat  our 
home,  as  we  did  in  coming?" 

"  Ah !"  exclaimed  Dr.  Gordon,  "how  good  it 
is  to  have  sensible  women  for  advisers  in  a  time 
of  need !  They  are  so  much  quicker-witted  than 
we  of  the  stronger  sex,  that  while  we  are  slowly 
working  out  our  conclusions  by  hard  thinking, 


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388  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

they  jump  directly  to  theirs.  Yes/'  he  appended, 
after  a  moment's  thought,  "and  they  generally 
jump  right." 

It  was  the  understanding  of  all,  as  they  retired 
to  rest  that  night,  that  the  morrow  should  be  de- 
voted to  removal.  And  the  programme,  so  far  as 
it  could  be  hastily  made  -out,  was  that  the  two  ca- 
noes should  each  make  two  trips,  carrying  such 
things  as  they  could  accommodate,  while  the  more 
bulky  articles,  such  as  the  table,  sofa,  and  chairs, 
which  they  preferred  to  carry  home,  together  with 
the  goats,  fawn,  cubs,  and  other  pets,  should  be 
made  secure  on  a  large  raft,  to  be  floated  up  the 
east  river  with  the  flood  tide,  in  time  for  the  ca- 
noes in  their  second  trip  to  pull  it  around  the  bend, 
so  that  it  could  float  down  the  north  river  on  the 
ebb.  The  management  of  the  raft  was  committed 
to  Sam,  who  was  experienced  in  such  matters,  and 
who  volunteered  to  undertake  it  alone,  saying, 
in  prospect  of  possible  interference  from  the  In- 
dians, — 

**  I  no  feerd.  Injin  nebber  trouble  nigger." 
This  was  the  programme,  and  it  seemed  to  be 
both  practicable  and  prudent,  especialiy  with  the 
proviso  that  Harold  should  take  the  two  dogs  and 
go  first  to  Fish  Point,  after  early  breakfast,  to  see 
if  all  was  safe,  and  that  until  his  return  and  favor- 
able report,  there  should  be  no  removal.     It  was 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  389 

their  experience,  however,  as  sung  by  a  facetious 
bard,  and  often  repeated  since  his  day,  that 

<<  The  best  laid  plans  of  mice  and  men 
Aft  gang  aglee." 

The  making  and  loading  of  the  raft,  and  the 
taking  down,  packing  up,  and  transfer  of  articles 
to  the  landing,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  went  on 
famously;  but  Harold,  who  set  out  after  early 
breakfast,  with  rifle  in  hand  and  spy-glass  in  his 
bosom,  did  not  return  until  Dr.  Gordon  became  so 
uneasy  that  he  and  Robert  were  in  the  act  of  going 
to  look  after  him.  When  at  last  he  came  in,  with 
quite  a  joyous  look,  he  said  he  wished  one  of  the 
canoes  to  enable  him  to  cross  the  river. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?'^  inquired  his  uncle  with 
surprise. 

"  I  will  tell  you,^'  he  answered,  "and  then  you 
may  judge  for  yourself.  When  I  reached  Fish 
Point,  I  did  not  go  directly  to  the  bluff,  but  hid 
myself  in  a  clump  of  myrtles  to  reconnoitre.  The 
pilot  boat  was  swinging  quietly  at  anchor,  just  as 
we  had  left  her,  and  there  had  been  no  interference 
with  her  of  any  sort ;  as  I  ran  my  eye  along  the 
opposite  shore,  nearly  half  a  mile  away,  I  saw 
what  I  took  to  be  the  head  of  an  Indian  peeping 
through  the  mangroves.  I  immediately  drew  out 
tlie  spy-glass  and  examined  more  closely.  There 
was  no  doubt  of  the  fact — the  head  was  there ;  I 


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390  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

could  see  the  eyes  and  mouth  with  perfect  distinct- 
ness, and  could  distinguish  the  various  turnings 
of  the  face.  I  kept  concealed  for  full  two  hours, 
moving  from  one  point  of  observation  to  another, 
and  examining  most  carefully  with  the  glass,  to 
see  if  any  one  else  was  there.  Convinced,  at  last, 
that  the  person  was  alone,  and  that  he  would 
remain  where  he  was,  without  some  movement  on 
ray  part,  I  walked  boldly  out  from  the  bushes,  as 
if  I  had  just  arrived  to  look  after  the  vessel,  and 
had  no  suspicion  of  any  one  being  on  the  other 
shore.  The  moment  I  appeared,  the  person,  who- 
ever he  was,  squatted,  so  as  to  be  entirely  con- 
cealed. This,  of  course,  was  sign  enough  that  he 
took  me  for  an  enemy. 

"  I  walked  about  the  bluff  and  beach  for  half 
an  hour,  watching  him,  without  appearing  to  do 
so,  and  going  occasionally  into  the  bushes,  where 
I  could  use  my  spy-glass  without  being  seen,  but 
he  made  no  movement  to  come  out  and  show  him- 
self. All  this  time  the  two  dogs  were  absent.  I 
never  knew  Mum  to  do  so  before,  but  I  suppose 
he  must  have  been  led  off  by  Fidelle  on  the  trail 
of  something  good  to  eat,  for  when  they  came  up 
they  looked  very  full,. and  also  much  pleased,  as 
if  they  had  been  enjoying  themselves.  It  was  not 
two  minutes  after  they  came  up  and  began  to  fawn 
upon  me,  before  I  saw  the  screen  of  mangroves  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river  thrown  down  and  some- 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  391 

body  step  out  upon  the  shelly  beach  and  wave  his 
hand  to  me.  In  return,  I  took  off  my  cap  and 
waved  it  to  him.  He  then  pointed  to  the  water, 
beckoned  me  to  come  over,  and  made  motions  like 
a  person  paddling  a  canoe.  To  this  I  shook  my 
head  and  beckoned  him  to  come  to  me,  making  the 
same  motions  of  paddling.  He  also  shook  his 
head,  and  stood  for  some  time,  as  if  not  knowing 
what  to  do.  He  next  pointed  to  the  dogs,  put- 
ting his  hands  down  low  to  show  what  he  meant, 
after  which  he  took  up  something,  which  he  threw 
on  the  water,  and  made  the  motions  of  a  water- 
dog,  like  Fidelle  swimming  after  it  and  bringing 
it  out ;  then  pointing  again,  he  imitated  Mum  on 
the  slow  track  of  a  deer.  By  this  time  I  began  to 
suspect  that  the  person  must  be  either  Riley  or 
Wildcat,  for  I  could  see  that  he  was  a  half-breed, 
and  these  are  the  only  Indians  I  know  of  who 
could  describe  our  dogs.  Just  then  another  de- 
vice occurred  to  me.  Riley  and  Wildcat  both 
know  my  mark  of  the  squirrel.  So  I  took  off  my 
hunting-shirt,  and  whatever  else  was  necessary, 
and  made  them  into  a  large  figure,  such  as  he  could 
recognize,  of  a  squirrel  eating  a  nut,  and  no  sooner 
had  I  done  so  than  he  clapped  his  hands  with  joy, 
threw  himself  on  all  fours,  and  moved  stealthily, 
like  a  cat  creeping  upon  its  prey,  then  made  a  sud- 
den leap  and  grasped  something,  which  he  pre- 
tended at  one  time  to  hold  in  his  mouth,  and  at 


y  Google 


392  MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

another  time  to  pat  and  play  with  it.  This  said 
CAT  as  plainly  as  actions  could^  and  I  was  so  well 
satisfied  that  I  motioned  to  him  that  I  would 
get  a  boat  and  come  for  him.   Now,  shall  I  do  it  ?  " 

"  By  all  means,"  replied  his  uncle ;  "  but  you 
must  not  go  alone.  Either  Robert  or  I  must  go 
with  you,  and"  — 

"  Not  you,  father,  not  you,"  said  Robert  has- 
tily.    "  Please  let  me  go." 

"  And  why  you  ? "  asked  his  father  with  a 
laugh.  "  Because  you  know  better  than  I  how 
to  manage?" 

,  "  No,  sir,  oh  !  no,"  he  replied,  "  but  because  — 
because — you  are — you  are  more  needful  to  the 
fjimily  than  I  am." 

Dr.  Gordon  looked  kindly  upon  his  son,  and 
said, — 

"  Go,  but  be  sure  you  keep  a  sharp  lookout  on 
the  way,  and  that  you  keep  near  this  side  the 
river  until  you  meet  me  at  Fish  Point." 

Off  hurried  the  boys  on  their  joyful  errand, 
taking  with  them  in  the  boat,  by  Dr.  Gordon^s  di- 
rection, several  charges  of  powder,  ball,  and  canis- 
ter-shot for  the  little  cannon  aboard  ship,  while  he 
loaded  up  the  small  cannon  at  the  tent,  and  said 
to  his  wife  and  sister,  — 

"  If  you  need  our  return  sooner  than  we  other- 
wise come,  fire  off  this  cannon,  or  let  Sam  do  it 
for  you,  and  I  and  the  boys  will  join  you  at  the 


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MAROONER'S   ISLAND.  393 

earliest  possible  moment.  I  go  to  Fish  Point  to 
observe  for  myself  the  state  of  the  case,  and  to  be 
sure  that  the  boys  are  not  decoyed  into  any  Indian 
snare/^ 

The  distance  to  the  Point  was  six  miles  by  wa- 
ter, and  barely  two  miles  by  the  path  blazed  out 
overland,  yet  the  boat  hove  in  sight  by  the  time 
Dr.  Gordon  arrived.  His  closest  scrutiny  with 
the  eye,  for  he  had  given  the  spy-glass  to  the 
boys,  did  •not  enable  him  to  discern  any  one  on 
the  other  shore,  but  no  sooner  did  the  boat  with  the 
boys  make  its  appearance,  than  the  thick  screen  of 
mangrove  branches  was  thrown  down,  revealing  a 
person  in  Indian  costume  standing  upon  what  ap- 
peared to  be  a  seat  or  bed  made  of  the  surround- 
ing herbage.  An  examination  with  the  spy-glass 
left  scarcely  the  possibility  of  doubt  that  the  per- 
son there  was  the  faithful  Indian  boy,  yet  Dr. 
Gordon  said  to  his  son  and  nephew,  — 

"  Before  you  pass  to  the  other  side,  there  are 
two  things  I  wish  to  do :  First,  to  plant  this  can- 
non so  as  to  cover  your  passage  back  and  forth,  in 
case  that  boy  may  have  been  compelled  to  act  as 
a  decoy ;  and  the  second  is,  to  prove  whether  that 
is  Wildcat.  Get  each  of  you  a  stick  about  six 
feet  long,  and'  come  with  me.'' 

He  led  them  to  the  top  of  the  low,  but  almost 
perpendicular  bluff,  made  them  each  take  a  hand 
of  his,  and  move  along  slowly,  using  their  sticks 


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394  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

as  if  groping  in  the  dark^  in  doing  which  they  saw 
the  person  across  the  river  imitating  them.  When 
they  came  to  the  edge  of  the  bluff,  and  were  be- 
ginning to  turn,  they  saw  this  person  pretend  sud- 
denly to  pitch  forward,  and  to  grasp  hold  of  some 
one  who  was  pulling  him  back. 

"  That  is  enough,"  said  Dr.  Gordon  ;  "  nobody 
but  Wildcat  could  have  acted  out  that  sign.  Gro, 
without  hesitation,  and  bring  him  here,  if  he  will 
come ;  and  if  he  is  at  all  troubled  with  that  su- 
perstition about  the  Island,  tell  him  from  me,  as 
a  ^medicine  man,'  that  the  white  blood  in  his 
veins  frees  him  from  all  enchantment.'* 

The  boys  waved  their  caps  with  a  cheer,  then 
sprang  into  the  canoe,  and  made  the  water  boil 
under  her  bows  as  she  skimmed  hpr  way  across. 
Their  excited  motions  were  plainly  visible  as  they 
neared  the  oth^  side,  when  their  young  friend 
rushed  knee-deep  into  the  water  to  meet  them, 
and  where,  after  a  short  parley,  he  entered  the 
boat  with  them  and  took  the  helm,  steering  right 
for  the  point  on  which  Dr.  Gordon  stood. 

Not  many  minutes  now  elapsed  before  Wildcat, 
whose  animated  face  sobered  to  decided  serious- 
ness as  he  approached  the  once-dreaded  island, 
leaped  ashore  and  grasped  the  hand  of  his  friend 
and  patron,  and  looked  with  joy  into  his  face. 

"  Glad  to  see  you  again.  Wildcat,"  siaid  Dr. 
Gordon,  "  but  how  came  yon  all  alone  on  that 
dreadful  marsh  ?  " 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  395 

"  Can't  tell  much  now,"  he  replied ;  "  too  much 
starve.    Drink  little  bit ;  eat  little  bit ;  then  tell." 

"  I  have  just  what  you  want,"  said  Dr.  Gordon, 
first  handing  him  a  canteen  of  water,  then  taking 
from  his  pocket  several  cakes  of  ship-bread,  which 
he  gave  him,  saying  with  a  laugh,  as  he  did  so, 
"  Here,  boys,  is  another  illustration  of  my  old 
Spanish  proverb,  '  Prayer  and  provender  hinder 
no  man's  journey.' " 

Wildcat  dispatched  the  biscuits  and  the  contents 
of  the  canteen  as  if  he  were  almost  famished,  re- 
marking, by  way  of  apology,  that  he  had  eaten 
and  drank  nothing  all  day,  all  night,  and  part  of 
the  day  before. 

They  then  embarked,  and  on  the  way  home  he 
gave  the  following  account,  which,  for  the  read- 
er's sake,  is  recorded  in  tolerable  English,  and  is 
also  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  particulars  which 
they  afterward  obtained  from  him  and  others. 


y  Google 


CHAP  TEE  XXX 1 1. 


MAHINLO^YAHA-LUSTY—THE  WHITE  MAN'S  CHARM 
^SLEEPING  IN  A  TREE, 

HEN  that  big  wind  came  during  the  last 
moon/*  said  Wildcat,  "  Major  Burke  was 
troubled.  We  had  not  heard  a  word 
about  you/'  (addressing  Dr.  Gordon,) 
"  from  the  time  you  left.  I  told  him  I  would  go 
and  look  for  you,  and  he  was  so  glad  he  offered 
me  anything  I  would  ask.  I  said  I  only  wanted 
my  gun  and  a  handful  of  small  silver  money.  I 
went  first  to  my  mother,  gave  her  part  of  the 
money,  and  obtained  her  permission  to  go.  As 
soon  as  she  knew  my  object,  she  told  me  that  Ma- 
hinlo,  the  old  prophet,  who  had  once  been  my 
teacher,  and  who  was  her  friend,  and  would  do 
anything  for  her  or  for  me,  had  removed  from 
Alachua,  and  was  now  living  in  the  Caloosa  set- 
tlement, near  Great  Spirit  Island,  where  he  often 
went  to  visit  the  grave  of  his  father.  Afi«r  leav- 
ing my  mother  I  went  straight  to  him.  He  was 
glad  to  see  me,  and  wanted  me  to  stay  in  one  of 

396 


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MAROONER'S   ISLAND.  397 

his  lodges  and  learn  under  him  again ;  but  I  an- 
swered that  I  could  not  stay  then,  and  told  him 
the  reason  ;  then  I  gave  him  almost  all  the  money 
that  was  left,  and  asked  him  to  tell  me  what  the 
Great  Spirit  had  let  him  know  about  you  all.  He 
answered  that  you  were  all  together  on  Great 
Spirit  Island ;  that  you  were  alive  and  well,  but 
that  you  were  in  danger  without  knowing  it,  and 
that  I  could  be  of  service  to  you  by  waiting  until 
he  gave  me  word. 

"  Near  him  lives  a  wild  chief  named  Yaha- 
Lusty,  which  means  Black  Wolf.  This  man  can 
muster  about  twenty  warriors.  He  is  a  Caloosa, 
the  last  of  his  tribe,  and  claims  all  this  part  of 
the  coast  in  the  name  of  his  fathers.  His  war- 
riors are  made  up  of  negroes  and  runaways  from 
other  tribes.  They  are  very  bad  people.  They 
dare  not  disobey  Mahinlo,  because  he  is  a  great 
prophet,  and  they  are  afraid  of  him.  But  they 
steal  from  everybody  else,  and  will  hardly  obey 
even  the  Top-chief  himself,  whom  we  call  Micco- 
Nopee.*  It  is  Yaha-Lusty,  as  much  as  any  one 
else,  who  is  breeding  all  this  trouble  between  the 
white  and  red  men,  for  he  hates  the  pale-faces,  and 
would  have  waylaid  and  killed  you  all  before  this 
time,  had  he  not  been  scared  off  by  something 
Mahinlo  said,  and  he  wants  now,  more  tlian  ever, 
to  kill  and  scalp  you  every  one. 

*  This  word  is  made  up  of  Micco,  chief,  and  Anuppa,  topmost. 


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398  MAROOKER'S    ISLAND. 

"  AlahiDlo  told  me  that  he  himself  was  on  the 
island,  on  a  visit  to  the  grave  of  his  father,  at  the 
time  you,  Robert  and  Harold,  first  came.  He  lay 
hidden  in  the  bushes  on  the  bluff  right  above  your 
tent,  where  he  could  hear  almost  every  word  you 
said,  (for  he  understands  your  language  well,)  and 
where  he  heard  you  all,  that  evening  and  the  next 
morning,  when  you  knelt  down  and  said,  *  Our 
Father  which  art  in  Heaven/  It  was  that  prayer, 
more  than  anything  else,  which  made  him  your 
friend ;  for  when  he  was  a  boy,  he  had  spent  a 
year  or  more  in  the  family  of  a  good  man  who 
used  to  repeat  that  prayer  with  his  family  twice 
every  day.  It  was  a  long  time  since  Mahinlo  had 
heard  it  from  any  lips  except  his  own,  and  it 
sounded  very  sweet.  He  has  been  here  many  a 
time  since,  when  you  knew  nothing  of  it^  though  he 
ssiys  that  once  you  came  near  shooting  him, —  that 
was  when  you  killed  a  black  squirrel  in  an  oak- 
tree,  to  which  your  dogs  had  chased  him.'' 

"  It  was  at  this  very  bluff,"  interrupted  Harold, 
with  a  merry  laugh,  "  the  morning  after  we  first 
landed.  I  thought  our  dogs  acted  very  strangely, 
but  I  had  no  suspicion  of  there  being  a  red  man  in 
the  tree  at  that  time." 

"When  Mahinlo  learned  that  I  could  repeat 
that  prayer,"  continued  Wildcat,  "he  said  that  it 
made  me  safe  Crom  all  enchantment ;  that  he  him- 
self repeated  it  every  day  of  his  life,  and  he  re- 


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MAROONER' 8  ISLAND.  399 

garded  it  as  the  strongest  charm  against  evil  that 
any  man  can  have. 

"  Yaha-Lusty  is  dreadfully  afraid  of  this  island, 
and  he  and  his  men  have,  consequently,  kept  so  far 
off  from  it  that,  until  the  night  of  the  last  big 
wind,  when  they  heard  the  cannons  fire,  they  had 
no  suspicion  of  any  persons  being  here.  Ever 
since  then  he  has  been  anxious  to  come,  to  look 
for  plunder,  but  Mahinlo  has  kept  him  away  by 
telling  him  that  if  he  wishes  to  return  alive,  he 
mpst  first  learn  perfectly  the  white  man^s  charm, 
which  he  must  repeat  twice  every  day  for  a  week 
before  his  visit,  and  once  every  hour  while  on  the 
island. 

"  From  that  day  to  this,  Yaha-Lusty  and  his 
chief  men  have  been  trying  to  learn  that  charm ; 
but  they  have  not  learned  it  yet,  and  Mahinlo 
thinks  they  never  will. 

"Day  before  yesterday  he  brought  the  prophet 
a  big  fat  deer,  as  a  present,  and  wanted  to  know 
whether  he  and  his  men  had  not  learned  enough 
of  the  charm  to  protect  them  in  going  close  around 
the  island  to  reconnoitre,  promising  that,  as  they 
went,  the  charm,  so  far  as  they  knew  it,  should  be 
repeated  all  the  time. 

"  Mahinlo  answered  that  they  might  go  and  try, 
but  that  unless  they  could  say  every  word  per- 
fectly, he  would  not  answer  for  consequences;  and 
more  than  that,  he  assured  them  that  if  they  iuter- 


y  Google 


400  MAROONER'S    ISLAND. 

fered  with  anything  belonging  to  the  island,  and 
especially  if  a  single  drop  of  blood  should  be  spilt 
during  the  trip,  they  might  expect  something  ter- 
rible. 

"  Yaha-Lusty  and  his  men  were  so  eager  for  the 
trip  that  they  set  out  that  same  evening.  The  next 
day,  when  the  sun  was  about  half  up  the  sky,  they 
returned  in  grfeat  trouble,  and  at  the  same  time  very 
angry.  Yaha-Lusty's  favorite  warrior  had  been 
killed.  From  the  account  he  gave  Mahinlo,  we 
suppose  that  they  passed  down  the  east  river  and 
came  back  by  the  coast.  Soon  after  sunrise  next 
morning  they  saw  your  stranded  pilot  boat,  and 
the  works  about  her,  and  went  ashore  to  examine. 
Judging  from  the  size  and  weight  of  the  timbers 
brought  together,  and  especially  from  the  strength 
shown  in  raising  the  vessel,  they  supposed  that 
there  must  have  been  at  least  twenty  men  at  work, 
an4  not  knowing  how  soon  these  men  might  return 
and  catch  them  there,  they  stayed  only  a  little 
while.  Yaha-Lusty  declared  to  Mahinlo  that  he 
did  not  touch  anything  belonging  to  the  v.essel, 
and  that  when  he  went  into  the  cabin  to  see  what 
it  contained,  he  gave  especial  instructions  to  the 
men  to  let  everything  alone,  on  the  peril  of  their 
lives ;  but,  he  said,  that  Paw-me-tubbee,  his  Choc- 
taw warrior,  was  so  great  a  thief  he  could  not 
resist  the  temptation  to  steal  a  hatchet  and  some 
rope,  and  that  when  he,  Yaha-Lusty,  came   out 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  401 

from  the  vessel,  he  heard  a  cry,  and  saw  Paw-me- 
tubbe  lying  on  the  mud  with  his  head  mashed  by 
the  fall  of  a  heavy  timber. 

"  This  accident  put  them  into  a  great  fright,  and 
made  them  believe  in  Mahinlo  more  than  ever. 
They  took  up  their  dead  warrior,  put  him  in  the 
boat,  and  paddled  away,  every  man  saying  over 
the  charm  to  himself  so  loud  and  so  fast  that  they 
did  jiot  know  of  your  being  near  until  they  heard 
the  sound  of  your  guns. 

"  After  Yaha-Lusty  had  left,  Mahinlo  called  me 
to  him,  and  told  me  that  the  time  bad  come  now 
for  me  to  help  you.  He  took  me  into  his  dark 
room,  where  he  talks  with  the  Great  Spirit,  and 
where  he  keeps  his  charms  and  medicines.  He 
rubbed  my  eyes,  my  ears,  my  nose,  my  mouth,  my 
head  and  breast  with  sassafras-oil  mixed  with  cala- 
mus, and  said, — 

"  *Go!  no  enchantment  now  against  you.  Be  a 
son  and  a  brother  to  your  friends  on  the  Island. 
Tell  them  there  is  danger — to  leave  as  soon  as 
they  can,  and  never  to  trust  themselves  off  the 
Island  within  gun-shot  of  any  hiding  place.^ 

"  Then  he  gave  me  a  nice  little  canoe,  and  put 
in  it  some  parched  corn  and  dried  venison,  and  said, 
*Go!  go  now.  Your  friends  are  yonder,'  pointing 
this  way.  *  Don't  let  Yaha-Lusty  or  his  men  see 
you.     And  don't  neglect  the  charm.' 

"It  was  half-way  between  high  sun  and  low  sun 


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402  MAROOSER'S  ISLAND. 

when  I  left.  I  came  along  softly  and  slowly, 
thinking  over  all  that  Mahinlo  had  said  to  me, 
and  was  passing  close  to  the  woods  of  the  island 
above  this,  when  I  heard  not  far  off  the  bleat  of 
deer.  I  landed,  tied  my  canoe,  and  went  into  the 
woods,  expecting  every  moment  to  see  them,  for  I 
could  hear  their  tramp,  and  even  the  rustling  of 
the  leaves  as  they  passed.  Soon  I  b^an  to  sus- 
pect this  was  a  trick,  and  hurried  back  to  my  boat^ 
But  I  was  too  late.  Some  one,  no  doubt,  of  Yaha- 
Lusty's  men  had  robbed  me. 

"  Night  was  now  fast  coming  on,  and  being 
afraid  somebody  might  steal  my  gun  too,  I  found 
a  bushy  tree  with  level  branches  and  climbed  into 
it,  tying  my  gun  to  a  branch  overhead,  and  fasten- 
ing myself  so  that  I  should  not  fall  off. 

"Before  daylight  I  left  my  resting-place  and 
came  to  the  south  end  of  the  island.  Here  I 
climbed  a  tree  and  looked  over  to  your  side.  It 
was  very  far  away.  I  could  barely  see  your  little 
vessel  at  anchor  near  shore,  but  I  knew  that  you 
all  could  not  be  very  far  off  from  it,  and  that  if  I 
could  only  get  within  hail  or  within  sight,  we 
should  soon  be  together.  The  marsh,  you  know,  is 
very  wide.  If  it  had  been  all  mangrove,  I  should 
never  have  been  able  to  get  through ;  but  a  part 
of  it  was  covered  with  a  hard,  rough  grass,  and 
there  was  a  long  ridge  of  sand  and  shell  that 
helped  me  much,  so  that  I  made  my  way  at  last 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  403 

to  the  river,  and  took  my  seat  on  a  bundle  of  dead 
weeds  behind  a  bush,  where  I  could  see  and  not  be 
seen. 

"There  I  sat  a  long  time,  wondering  whether 
something  bad  had  not  happened  to  keep  you  from 
the  vessel  that  I  knew,  by  what  Yaha-Lusty  had 
said,  you  must  have  been  working  upon  very 
busily  for  some  days.  At  last  I  saw  somebody 
dressed  like  an  Indian,  with  his  rifle  on  his  shoul- 
der, come  out  from  the  bushes,  and  walk  about  the 
bluff,  looking  at  the  vessel.  The  sight  of  those 
deerskin  clothes  made  my  heart  sick,  for  I  was 
afraid  some  of  Yaha-Lusty's  men  had  come  over 
•  and  done  you  a  harm.  So  I  kept  myself  closely 
hid.  But  when  Mum  and  Fidelle  came  out  of  the 
woods  and'  began  to  play  about  you,  Harold,  I 
knew  that  the  person  was  no  other  than  yourself.'^ 

"  I  had  been  watching  you  long  before,"  said  Har- 
old. "  I  saw  you  when  you  broke  some  mangrove 
twigs  and  festened  them  before  you  as  a  screen." 

Wildcat  looked  admiringly  at  his  friend,  and 
said  with  a  quiet  laugh,  — 

"  You  make  good  Ingin,  some  day ;  you  beat 
me  hide." 

"  I  have  one  more  question  to  ask,"  said  Dr. 
Gordon.  "  What  is  the  matter  with  Torgah  and 
Somassee  that  they  have  not  come?  Or  do  you 
know  anything  about  them?" 

Wildcat  looked  grave,  and  paused  a  moment 


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404  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

before  he  replied.     '^  Torgah  and  Somassee  well, 
want  to  come.     Can't  come  yet.     Riley  too." 

Dr.  Gordon  recollected  Pancheta's  cautious  com- 
munication. He  perceived  that  there  was  some  secret 
influence  at  work,  which  Wildcat  as  an  Indian  was 
not  at  liberty  to  reveal.     He  asked  no  more. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

WILDCAT  AT  THE  PRAIRIE— RECONNOITRING  AND 
DEER-VOYAGE— JOSHUA  THKIGPEN— FRANK  AND 
THE  ALLIGATOR— TELEGRAPHING  —  SAM  HAS  Na 
USE  FOR  INDIANS. 

ILDCAT^S  narrative  revealed  such  hos- 
tility of  feeling  and  of  purpose  upon 
the  mainland,  that  notwithstanding  the 
friendliness  of  Mahinlo  and  others,  it 
was  manifestly  the  duty  of  our  islanders  to  return 
as  early  as  they  could  to  Tampa,  and  also  to  keep 
as  near  together  as  po^ible  for  protection  during 
the  remainder  of  their  sojourn. 

The  voyage  back  was  made  without  misadvent- 
ure and  almost  without  incident.  On  their  arrival 
at  the  landing,  Mary  and  Frank  both  hastened  to 
meet  them  and  to  give  a  cordial  greeting  to  their 
Indian  friend.  Mrs.  Gordon  and  Mrs.  Mcintosh 
knew  him  only  by  report,  yet  his  attachment  to 
their  young   folks   had   been   so   devoted   as   to 


y  Google 


MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  405 

awaken  in  them  the  deepest  interest.  Wildcat 
soon  found  himself  at  home,  and  he  took  pleasure 
in  showing  it  as  far  as  was  consistent  with  pro- 
priety. The  mental  habits  of  most  Indians,  in 
some  respects,  resemble  the  local  instincts  of  a  cat; 
they  can  never  feel  entirely  at  ease  in  a  new  place, 
until  they  have  a  reliable  knowledge  of  it  and  of 
its  surroundings.  Wildcat  was  not  long  at  the 
tent,  before  he  became  restless,  and  made  some  ex- 
cuse for  going  out  with  Robert  and  Harold  to  sur- 
vey the  premises.  The  cubs,  the  fawn,  the  wild 
fowl  in  the  poultry  pen,  were  all,  in  turn,  the  objects 
of  his  interest.  From  them  he  was  conducted  to 
the  edge  of  a  bay  gall,*  where  was  a  spring  of 
delightful  water  flowing  from  the  base  of  a  hollow 
tree.  The  little  prairie,  too,  delighted  him;  but 
when  on  its  border  he  came  in  sight  of  a  ruinous 
hut,  enclosing  a  grave  neatly  protected  by  a  pen- 
like covering  of  poles,  he  became  deeply  awed. 
For  a  time  surveying  it  from  a  distance,  he  slowly 
approached,  and  looking  through  the  half-closed 
doorway  upon  the  interior,  where  everything  had 
been  respected  by  the  present  dwellers  on  the 
island,  he  said, — 

"  Old  prophet's  home.  You  no  trouble  it.  Ma- 
hinlo  glad.     He  watch  you  close/' 

"  Trouble  it  ?  Oh !  no,''  said  Harold,  "  we  have 
been  better  taught  than  to  disturb  a  dead  man's 
homey  as  you  call  it." 

*  A  miry  bottom. 

Digitized  by  CjOOQIC 


406  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

"No,  indeed/'  added  Robert;  "my  fether  haa 
always  taught  us.  to  talk  softly  around  a  grave, 
and  to  act  there  somewhat  as  we  do  upon  entering 
a  church/' 

"  Mahinlo  see  you  sometimes  when  you  no  see 
him/'  said  Wildcat.  "  You  make  him  glad.  He 
love  you." 

The  sun  had  passed  the  meridian,  and  begun  to 
slope  toward  the  west  ere  the  boat  had  returned. 
By  the  time  all  were  rested  and  had  dined,  it  was 
too  late  to  attempt  that  day  to  change  their  place 
of  abode.  They  therefore  brought  back  to  the 
tent  all  things  needful  for  comfort  that  night,  and 
then  proceeded  to  load  the  raft  in  readiness  for  an 
early  move  in  the  morning,  Sam,  whose  duties 
on  his  master's  plantation  as  captain  of  the  flat- 
boat  during  rice-harvest,  had  made  him  quite  ex- 
pert in  the  business,  added  now  the  assurance  that 
he  would  not  need  the  assistance  of  the  boats  at 
the  bend  where  the  tides  met,  since  he  could  float 
up  to  it  on  the  flood  tide,  then  pole  around  and 
wait  for  the  ebb  to  carry  him  to  Fish  Point.  He 
still  insisted,  too,  that  so  far  as  danger  from  Indians 
was  concerned,  it  would  be  safer  for  him  to  go  alone, 
and  this  was  vigorously  supported  by  Wildcat,  who 
held  that  whatever  might  be  the  hostility  of  Yaha- 
Lusty  or  his  men  toward  the  whites,  there  was  none 
toward  the  blacks. 

"  If  these  are  the  facts  in  the  case,"  said  Dr. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  407 

Gordon,  addressing  his  boys,  "I  am  in  favor  of  an 
important  change  in  our  plan  of  transportation; 
that  while  the  raft  makes  the  trip  by  the  river,  as 
it  must,  we  make  it  by  sea.  This  will  be  acting 
according  to  the  advice  of  Mahinlo  sent  us  this 
morning." 

The  necessary  work  being  all  completed  an  hour 
by  sun,  Harold  asked  permission  for  himself  and 
Wildcat  to  go  to  Fish  Point  on  a  tour  of  observa- 
tion. Their  guns  were  taken  as  a  matter  of  course, 
and  so  was  Mum ;  and  this  led  them  into  a  temp- 
tation which  a  hunter  finds  it  very  difficult  to 
withstand.  A  herd  of  large,  beautiful  deer,  roused 
unawares  by  them,  sprang  up,  and  with  broad, 
flaunting  tails,  loped  lazily  along  within  easy  reach 
of  their  rifles.  The  leader  was  a  stately  buck,  and 
their  pieces  were  instantly  levelled  upon  him,  when 
the  shot  was  arrested  by  the  ready  prudence  of 
Harold. 

"  Stop,  Wildcat ! "  said  he,  "  we  are  too  near  the 
blufil     We  must  reconnoitre  first." 

Wildcat's  rifle  dropped  slowly  from  its  aim, 
and  he  looked  sadly  disappointed,  although  a 
moment  after  he  said, — 

"  You  right !  you  right !  musn't  shoot  yet." 

They  went  directly  to  the  Point,  which  they  ap- 
proached with  caution,  peeping  right  and  left 
through  the  bushes,  and  examining  with  the  spy- 
glass the  opposite  shore  and  the  distant  reaches  of 


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408  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

the  river.  Nothing  wrong  or  even  suspicious  was 
discoverable.  They  then  turned  their  faces  home- 
ward, wlien  scarcely  had  they  passed  out  of  sight 
of  the  Point,  ere  their  recent  act  of  self-denial  was 
rewarded. 

Mum  was  an  admirably  trained  "  still  hunter .'' 
His  stealthy  tread,  his  pointed  nose,  his  pricked- 
up  ears,  his  short  tail  erect,  gave  signs  of  game 
near  at  hand.  The  boys  followed  close  behind 
him  with  their  guns  ready.  There  was  a  tramp, 
then  a  rush  not  twenty  yards  away,  and  the  same 
herd  they  had  seen  on  coming,  passed  them  again. 
The  crack  of  both  rifles  was  heard  almost  simul- 
taneously, and  the  buck  on  which  they  had  di- 
rected their  pieces  leaped  high  into  the  air,  and 
fell  dead  with  two  bullet  holes  in  his  shoulder. 

"  Too  big  and  fat  for  us  to  carry,''  said  Harold, 
as  he  rolled  the  body  on  one  side  to  feel  its  weight. 

"  Can  hang  it  up,"  suggested  Wildcat,  looking 
around  for  a  sapling. 

It  was  as  much  as  they  could  do,  with  their 
united  strength,  to  draw  the  body  to  a  slender 
tree,  which  one  of  them  climbed  and  bent  down. 
But  the  weight  was  more  than  the  tree  would  carry 
back. 

"  Cut  deer  in  two  and  hang  on  two  tree,"  again 
suggested  Wildcat. 

One  of  these  trees,  however,  was  so  low  that 
Harold  added  another  device  to  protect  his  game 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  409 

from  wolves.  Bfe  inflated  the  deer's  bladder,  and 
hung  it  to  dangle  from  an  adjoining  limb,  remark- 
ing as  he  did  so, — 

"  I  have  heard  old  Torgah  say  that  no  wolf  will 
come  near  a  thing  like  this." 

They  reached  the  tent  about  dark,  quite  content 
to  rest  themselves  after  their  tramp,  and  giving  a 
satisfactory  account  of  what  they  had  seen  and 
done. 

In  the  family  worship  that  evening  —  the  first 
of  the  kind  probably  the  young  Indian  had  ever 
attended — it  was  noticed  that  Wildcat  listened 
with  profound  attention,  and  that  when  they 
united  audibly  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  his  voice  was 
heard  repeating  in  musical,  though  broken  Eng- 
lish, the  words  of  which  Mahinlo  had  spoken  so 
reverently  as  "the  white  man's  charm." 

At  break  of  day  next  morning,  all  were  on  foot, 
even  Mrs.  Gordon,  preparing  for  the  remove ;  and 
the  sun  was  not  very  high  before  the  voyagers  set 
out,  the  canoes  going  south  and  the  raft  going 
north.  As  the  distance  between  them  increased 
and  they  began  to  lose  sight  of  each  other,  Sam 
waved  his  adieus  with  his  hat,  and  then  raised  a 
boat-song,  not  reflecting  that  a  safer  plan  to  eScape 
notice  from  the  Indians  would  have  been  to  float 
along  in  silence.  The  canoes,  carrying  respectively 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon,  Robert  and  Mary  in  one, 
and  Mrs.  Mcintosh,  Harold,  Frank,  and  Wildcat 


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410  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

in  the  other,  together  with  their  trunks,  blankets, 
provisions,  cooking  utensils,  etc.,  passed  down  the 
river  under  the  impulse  both  of  sails  and  oars 
The  canoes  having  no  keels  with  which  to  resist 
lee-way,  were  not  helped  in  their  progress  by  the 
sails,  nevertheless  the  wind,  which  was  from  the 
east,  and  consequently  off  shore,  insured  them 
smooth  water  at  sea. 

In  passing  down  the  river,  Harold  pointed  out 
to  his  mother  and  Wildcat  the  place  of  the  pirate 
wreck,  now  barely  visible  behind  its  cumbrous 
wall  of  sea- weeds,  far  up  the  little  creek ;  and  a 
mile  or  two  lower  down,  he  showed  her  the  place 
where  he  and  the  others  had  had  a  desperate  encoun- 
ter with  a  bear  that  they  had  robbed  of  her  whelps. 

At  the  southern  end  of  the  island  their  atten- 
tion was  attracted  by  a  number  of  gulls  and  other 
sea-birds  gathered  around  some  object  high  upon 
the  beach.  The  boats  went  ashore,  and  Dr.  Gor- 
don and  the  boys  were  horrified  to  find  there 
the  body  of  a  dead  man.  It  was  so  thoroughly 
picked  and  mutilated  that  on  the  first  approach 
they  were  at  a  loss  to  determine  whether  it  had 
belonged  to  a  white  man,  Indian,  or  negro.  A 
little'closer  inspection  enabled  them  to  determine 
from  the  hair  that  it  was  that  of  a  white  man,  and 
from  the  clothing  that  he  was  probably  a  fisher- 
man or  a  wrecker.  On  examining  the  pockets,  they 
found  several  letters  addressed  to  parties  at  Key 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  411 

West,  purporting  to  be  in  the  care  of  Joshua  Thrig- 
pen.  •  One  of  these  was  in  the  familiar  hand-writ- 
ing of  Major  Biirke,  of  Foct  Brooke,  addressed  to 
the  commandant  at  Key  West.  Not  being  marked 
"  Official/'  Dr.  Gordon  took  the  liberty  of  opening 
this  last,  confident  that  it  concerned  himself  more 
than  any  one  else.  And  so  it  proved ;  for  it  was 
a  letter  written  at  his  request  during  his  sickness 
in  November,  endeavoring  to  enlist  the  interest  of 
certain  persons  at  Key  West  in  looking  for  his  chil- 
dren, and  offering  a  large  reward  for  their  recovery. 

"Poor  fellow!''  said  Dr.  Gordon,  surveying 
the  mangled  remains,  "  he  succeeded  in  reaching 
the  place  of  which  he  was  so  anxious  to  know,  and 
here  he  has  perished." 

But  what  could  have  so  delayed  him  ?  for  the 
body  furnished  circumstantial  evidence  that  he 
had  not  been  dead  more  than  a  week,  yet  it  was 
nearly  four  months  since  he  left  Tampa.  This 
question  they  could  not  solve,  so  gathering  as  well 
as  they  could  all  that  pertained  to  him,  and  secur- 
ing all  that  was  worth  preserving  of  the  contents 
of  his  pockets,^  they  dug  a  grave  and  buried  him 
there,  with  an  inscription  in  the  following  words, 
deeply  pencilled  on  an  adjoining  tree, — 

"Joshua  Thrigpen.  Found  dead,  March  2d, 
1831.     Buried  six  feet  north. 

"  Charles  Gordon,  M.  D., 

"Tampa  Bay,  Fla." 


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412  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

This  work  detained  them  an  hour  or  more,  dur- 
ing which  time  Mary  and  Frank  had  a  deliglitful 
run  upon  the  hard  beach,  which  was  plentifully 
sprinkled  with  shells  and  sea-weeds  of  various 
kinds,  and  many  of  exquisite  beauty.  Among  the 
curiosities  brought  by  them  to  the  boat,  was  some- 
thing which  Frank  took  to  be  the  enormous  rattle 
of  a  rattlesnake,  which  it  strongly  resembled  in 
structure,  although  it  was  as  long  as  his  arm.  At 
first  he  was  afraid  to  handle  it,  but  Mary  showed 
him  that  it  was  the  egg  of  a  conch,  made  of  many 
flat  cells,  united  by  a  ligature  in  the  middle,  and 
each  containing  a  number  of  little  tiny  conchs. 

A  mile  or  two  further  up  the  beach,  the  shells 
M^ere  larger  and  more  abundant.  Dr.  Gordon  there 
pointed  out  the  place  where  he  had  discovered 
Frank's  handkerchief  partly  buried  in  the  sand^ 
and  asked  him  and  Mary  when  and  how  he  hap- 
pened to  lose  it.  Frank  had  no  recollection  of  it 
whatever ;  but  Harold  answered,  — 

"  The  only  time  when  it  could  have  happened 
was  soon  after  we  came  here.  Don't  you  recollect, 
Frank,  that  you  and  Mary  came  out  to  this  place 
with  me  to  gather  shells  ?'' 

"Yes,''  he  replied,  "I  remember  it  well  enough. 
But  father  did  not  ask  about  that  at  all.  He  asked 
when  I  lost  my  handkerchief,  and  I  did  not  lose 
it  then/' 

"  The  handkerchief  could  not  have  brouc^ht  it- 


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MAROONER  S  ISjjAND,  413 

self/'  argued  Harold.  "  Don't  you  think,  Frank, 
you  must  have  brought  and  left  it  the  only  time 
you  came  here  ? " 

"  But  I  did  not  leave  it/'  persisted  Frank,  "  for 
I  carried  it  back  full  of  shells,  and  you  helped  me 
yourself  to  carry  it,  because  it  was  so  heavy." 

Harold's  recollection  of  the  matter  now  coin- 
cided with  Frank's,  and  he  was  beginning  to  feel 
somewhat  perplexed  to  account  for  the  apparent 
mystery,  when  Frank  clapped  his  hands  saying, 
"I  know!  I  know!"  then  as  suddenly  stopped. 

"  What  do  you  know,  Frank  ?"  he  asked.  But 
Frank  put  on  a  sullen  look  and  refused  to  tell. 
Harold  perceived  that  something  unusual  was  in 
Frank's  mind,  connected  with  the  handkerchief,  and 
in  a  spirit  of  mischief  he  urged  him  to  tell  it.  But 
Frank  persisted  in  his  silence  until  his  mother  said : 

"  I  do  not  wish  you  to  tell  us,  Frank,  unless 
you  choose.  Only  I  hope  it  was  nothing  bad  that 
makes  you  unwilling." 

^'  No,  ma'am,"  he  answered  very  promptly ;  then 
went  on  in  a  hesitating  manner  to  say,  "  only  it 
was  n't — ,  it  was  n't — ,  it  was  n't  exactly — ,  only 
I  have  not  told  anybody  about  it  yet,  and  it 
makes  me  feel  bad  to  think  about  it." 

"  Indeed,"  said  she,  "  that  makes  me  wish  to 
know  what  it  is." 

"  Well,"  he  replied,  "  an  alligator  almost  caught 
me  that  day.     And   it  makes   me  feel   uncom- 


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414  MAROONER' S  ISLAND. 

fortable  to  think  how  he  would  have  chewed 
me  up!" 

"  Why,  my  son  !  when  was  this?"  his  mother 
asked  in  alarm. 

"  Oh !  a  long  time  ago/'  he  answered ;  "  it  was 
after  sister  Mary  sent  off  her  little  schooner  Hope, 
to  tell  you  all  where  we  were.  I  thought  I  would 
send  off  a  vessel  too.  I  took  the  hatchet  and  cut 
me  a  flat  piece  of  wood,  a  bigger  one  than  sister's, 
because  I  wanted  it  to  sail  further,  and  I  sharp- 
ened one  end  of  it  and  put  a  rudder  at  the  other 
end,  as  I  had  seen  cousin  Harold  do ;  and  then  I 
made  a  mast  and  put  on  my  handkerchief  for  a 
sail,  and  took  it  down  to  the  river.  It  went  very 
well  for  awhile,  until  it  lodged  against  what  I 
thought  was  an  ugly  black  log  of  wood,  lying  close 
in  the  water-side.  But  when  I  pushed  it  with  a 
stick  to  make  it  go,  the  log  moved,  and  slapped 
around  at  me  so  hard  that  the  water  splashed  all 
over  my  face  and  blinded  me ;  and  when  I  looked 
again,  I  saw  a  great  big  alligator  as  long  as  a  fence- 
rail,  swimming  away,  and  my  handkerchief  hitched 
to  one  of  the  scales  of  his  back.  This  is  the  way  my 
handkerchief  came  here ;  the  alligator  brought  it." 

Mrs.  Gordon  turned  red  and  pale  by  turns,  as 
her  little  boy  gave  this  graphic  account  of  his  nar- 
row escape. 

"  Where  did  this  happen  ?"  she  inquired. 

*'  Near  the  spring  where  we  first  lived,"  he  an- 
swered. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  415 

Mary  caught  her  mother's  eye  fixed  upon  her 
with  a  look  of  inquiry  which  seemed  to  sa/,  How 
came  you  to  let  your  brother  get  into  such  dan- 
ger ?  She  felt  very  badly,  and  did  not  know  how 
to  excuse  her  seeming  neglect,  until  Frank  added, — 

"  It  was  one  day  when  cousin  Harold  was  lame, 
and  when  you  all  were  so  busy  curing  the  venison 
that  brother  Robert  and  I  killed/' 

"  Why,  Frank  ! "  exclaimed  Mary,  "  you  say 
it  happened  a  long  time  ago,  and  yet  you  never 
told  us  a  word  of  it  until  now  !  What  kept  you 
from  telling?" 

"  I  was  afraid  you  would  not  let  me  go  to  the 
river  again,''  replied  Frank. 

Dr.  Gordon,  who  had  been  a  silent,  but  inter- 
ested listener,  now  remarked,  —  "  Well,  Frank,  I 
hope  this  will  be  a  lesson  to  you  as  long  as  you 
live,  how  you  go  near  water  in  which  there  are 
alligators." 

Without  further  incident  they  reached  the  north- 
em  end  of  the  island,  and  as  they  turned  the  point 
to  come  in  from  sea,  they  discovered  the  pilot  boat 
riding  safely  at  anchor;  and  far  up  the  river,  barely 
discernible  with  the  spy-glass,  they  could  see  the 
raft  moored  at  the  bend  of  the  marsh  awaiting  the 
ebb-tide,  and  Sam  sitting  on  one  of  the  chairs. 
While  Robert  was  using  the  glass,  he  started  with 
surprise,  and  said,  — 

"  Father !  Cousin  Harold !  the  Indians  have 
been  after  Sam." 


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416  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

His  &ther  seized  the  offered  glass,  and  after 
poising  it  steadily  upon  the  distant  point,  passed 
it  to  Harold,  saying,  — "  I  see  Sam  aboard,  and 
everything  seemingly  in  quiet.  But  just  beyond 
the  raft  you  may  discover  several  paddles  in  mo- 
tion as  if  they  belong  to  a  large  boat  trying  to 
keep  hidden  from  us  by  hugging  the  shore."  Har- 
old looked  and  passed  the  glass  to  Wildcat. 

Both  made  a  hasty  examination  and  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  whatever  might  have  been  said 
or  done  by  their  distant  visitors,  they  were  now 
leaving  Sam  in  peace.  But  as  Wildcat  looked,  he 
added, — 

"  That  Yaha-Lusty  in  Bellevue  boat!'' 

"  I  am  glad  he  has  let  my  things  on  the  raft 
alone,*'  said  Dr.  Gordon. 

"  He  'fraid  to  trouble  'em ;  fraid  of  Mahinlo," 
Wildcat  affirmed. 

"  Shall  we  not  go  and  see  if  Sam  needs  any- 
thing?" Harold  asked. 

"  Not  unless  he  gives  some  signal,"  his  father 
returned.  "  He  can  see  us  as  well  as  we  can  see 
him,  and  if  he  is  in  need  you  may  be  sure  he  will 
let  us  know  it." 

When  they  reached  the  vessel.  Dr.  Gordon  raised 
an  oar,  on  which  he  had  tied  a  white  handkerchief; 
and  within  two  minutes,  Sam's  pole  went  up  bear- 
ing also  something  white,  but  having  his  black 
hat  on  top.  Wildcat  looked  on  inquisitively. 
Robert  exclaimed,  — 


orgitized  by  CjOOQIC 


MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  417 

"  The  white  means,  All  riglit !  We  say  so  to  Sam 
by  our  white.  He  says  the  same  to  us  by  his. 
But  he  puts  on  something  black,  and  that  means 
Danger.  The  two  colors  mean,  Danger,  but  All 
Right !  See,  now,  father  makes  his  oar  bow  to 
Sam,  which  Sam  will  understand  to  ask,  Do  you 
need  anything?  and  if  Sam  needs,  he  will  say 
Yes,  by  making  his  pole  bow  too.  But  see,  the 
top  of  his  pole  waves  from  side  to  side,  like  a  per- 
son shaking  his  head  ;  that  means  No." 

"  Sam  seems  to  be  well  drilled,''  observed  Har- 
old. 

"  It  was  a  part  of  his  training  as  captain  of  my 
rice-boats,"  his  uncle  answered. 

All  hands  now  went  to  work  to  prepare  their 
future  abode.  Dr.  Gordon  had  intended  to  pitch 
and  occupy  the  tent  on  land,  but  a  more  mature 
reflection  decided  him  to  place  the  non-combatants 
at  once  in  the  more  secure,  though  less  comfortable 
shelter  of  the  vessel.  There  they  disembarked 
from  the  canoes,  the  freight  was  discharged,  and 
the  ladies  set  about  making  things  comfortable, 
while  Dr.  Gordon  and  the  boys  provided  wood 
and  water,  set  up  the  stove  for  use,  and  did  what- 
ever else  was  necessary,  yet  not  suitable,  for  deli- 
cate hands. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  the  vessel  swung  round 
with  her  stern  seaward.  The  ebb-tide  had  com- 
menced, but  before  the  downward  current  had  ex- 
2B 


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418  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

tended  to  the  xfStj  Sam  had  pushed  from  shore 
and  was  awaiting  it.  As  he  came  floating  into 
the  broad  water,  the  boys  manned  one  of  the  ca- 
noes and  went  to  meet  him.  Hardly  had  they 
come  within  talking  distance  before  they  heard  his 
sonorous  voice  singing  out, — 

"  Injin  been  yuh!" 

The  distance  was  too  great  to  admit  of  reply  by 
words,  and  they,  therefore,  welcomed  him  by  a 
loud  halloo  and  a  wave  of  their  caps. 

**  I  tell  you  so,"  he  shouted,  on  a  somewhat 
nearer  approach,  *^  I  tell  you  Injin  never  trouble 
nigger.  Ee  tek  de  little  cannon,  dough,  and  de 
powder  and  de  shot.  Ee  say  you  'ent  got  no  busi- 
ness wi*  so  much  cannon ;  ee  want  some  eeself." 

This  partial  robbery  was  a  new  feature  in  the 
case.  It  was  an  advance  toward  hostility  which 
Wildcat's  words  had  not  prepared  them  to  expect. 
What  did  it  mean  ?  When  Sam  came  aboard  and 
rendered  a  full  and  deliberate  report  to  his  master, 
he  informed  them  that  while  he  was  moored  at  the 
bend,  he  saw,  far  up  the  river,  a  large  boat  manned 
.by  half  a  dozen  Indians  stealing  cautiously  along 
the  opposite  shore.  It  was  the  same  party  they 
had  chased  to  sea,  and  they  were  in  the  same  boat. 
After  peeping  around  the  point  and  ascertaining 
there  was  no  danger,  they  came  over  the  river, 
asked  him  who  he  was,  where  he  came  from,  what 
he  was  doing  there,  and  what  he  had  aboard.    He 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  419 

told  them,  in  reply,  that  he  belonged  to  Dr.  Gor- 
don, that  he  and  his  master's  company  had  been 
driven  there  by  a  gale  and  were  trying  to  get  away, 
and  that  he  had  on  board  such  and  such  things, 
which  they  could  plainly  see.  They  asked  why 
the  canoes  had  gone  by  sea,  when  the  passage  by 
river  was  so  much  shorter  and  more  pleasant.  To 
which  he  replied,  that  the  ladies  were  tired  of  the 
smell  of  the  marsh,  and  wanted  to  see  the  beach. 
They  then  inquired  how  many  and  who  were  in 
the  company,  and  what  they  proposed  to  do.  These 
questions  he  pretended  not  to  understand,  and  re- 
plied :  "  Yes,  he  knew  it  was  a  *  mighty  danger- 
some  place,'  full  of  ghosts  and  bad  spirits,  and  that 
Dr.  Gordon  and  his  company  were  trying  hard  to 
get  away  for  fear  they  should  be  destroyed,  as 
everybody  else  had  been  who  had  gone  there.  They 
then  proi>osed  to  deliver  him  from  his  danger  at 
once  by  receiving  him  into  their  tribe,  and  mak- 
ing him  free,  and  giving  him  an  Indian  wife, 
or  three  or  four  wives  if  he  preferred,  who  should 
all  work  for  him  and  make  him  a  rich  man.  Sam 
said  that  at  first  he  did  not  know  how  to  answer . 
them,  for  they  seemed  determined  to  take  him  any- 
how ;  but  he  told  them  at  last  that  he  did  not  need 
anybody  to  work  for  him,  that  he  had  a  good  house 
at  home,  and  plenty  of  victuals  and  clothes ;  that 
he  did  not  want  any  more  wives,  for  he  had  one 
already,  and  she  was  more  than  he  could  manage. 


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420  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

and  that  as  for  being  free,  he  had  a  good  master, 
and  was  just  as  free  as  any  black  man  could  be 
that  had  a  wife  at  all.  He  said  that  when  he  had 
given  them  this  answer,  they  looked  at  one  another 
and  said,  "  Ugh  !  ugh  ! "  and  then  went  away,  ap- 
pearing to  be  much  put  out,  and  carried  away  the 
cannon  and  all  that  belonged  to  it. 

"  And  how  do  you  like  your  new  acquaintances?" 
asked  Robert,  who  observed  that  several  times 
Sam's  face  had  given  indication  of  strong  disgust. 

"  I  ent  get  no  use  fuh  um,"  he  replied  with  em- 
phasis. 

"  But  they  treated  you  very  respectfully,"  per- 
sisted llobert. 

Sam  looked  his  dissent,  and  simply  replied,  — 
"Injin  too  sassy.'' 

It  was  some  time  before  the  fact  was  revealed 
that  one  of  Yaha-Lusty's  men,  in  expressing  his 
disappointment  at  Sam's  refusal,  had  quoted  the 
common  Indian  saying  :  "White  man  first;  Injin 
next ;  den  dog,  and  after  dog,  nigger." 


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CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


GOOD  RULE  ABOUT  TROUBLE— " DOCTOR  WILD- 
CAT'*'— NEW  MAST— LAST  OF  THE  PIRATE  WRECK 
—  ONE  OF  SAM'S  WEAKNESSES— TRYING  THEIR 
VESSEL—  UNEXPECTED  CANNON— HAROLD'S  DIS- 
TRESS—STOPPING A  LEAK  IN  A  HURRY— "HOIST 
WITH  HIS  OWN  PETARD*'  — A  LITTLE  SURGERY— 
CLOSE  OF  THE  WEEK. 

s^O  you  expect  an  attack  to-night  ?''  asked 
Harold,  as  something  was  said  of  post- 
ing sentinels  on  deck. 

*^I  never  expect  evil/^  his  uncle  re- 
plied, "  though  I  try  always  to  prepare  for  it." 

"  But,  father,"  argued  Robert,  who  was  usually 
ready  to  inaugurate  a  discussion,  "  does  not  this 
posting  of  sentinels  imply  that  evil  is  expected?" 
"  Not  necessarily,"  his  father  answered ;  "  on 
the  contrary,  it  rather  implies  an  expectation  of 
warding  it  off  in  case  it  should  appear.  When  I 
was  a  boy,  my  father  gave  me  an  excellent  rule, 
which  I  am  glad  to  say  I  have  remembered  and 
acted  upon  almost  every  day  since.  It  was  this : 
*  Xever  anticipate  evil,     ^^mesec  it,  and  prepare 

421 


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422  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

against  it,  always,  if  you  can ;  but  never  hurry 
trouble  on  yourself.  More  than  likely  it  will  not 
come  at  all,  except  by  anticipation,  and  even  if  it 
should,  your  suffering  beforehand  will  not  make  it 
lighter.  In  every  experience  in  life,  there  is  good 
as  well  as  evil,  and,  if  we  are  allowed  to  have  a 
choice,  it  is  certainly  the  part  of  wisdom  to  antici- 
pate the  good.  *  Never  eat  ashes^  said  he,  ^  if  you, 
can  feed  on  honey. ^^^ 

Harold  laughed.  "  But,  uncle,"  he  asked, "  what 
good  can  you  anticipate  from  the  coming  of  Indians 
to-night?" 

"  This  good,"  his  uncle  replied,  "  that  if  they 
come,  and  are  repelled,  they  will  be  apt  hereafter 
to  let  us  alone." 

The  sentinels  were  assigned  to  their  duties;  the 
deck  of  the  little  vessel  was  put  in  the  best  possi- 
ble condition  for  defence,  and  each  one  of  the 
"  warriors "  aboard  took  his  turn  in  the  nightly 
watch,  but  no  Indians  came,  and  no  disturbance 
was  experienced  beyond  the  blowing  of  a  porpoise 
or  the  splash  of  a  sportive  sturgeon. 

The  next  morning  they  were  all  early  on  foot, 
but  not  quite  so  early  as  usual  at  their  work.  A 
family  can  seldom  make  a  sudden  change  of  abode 
without  experiencing  unforeseen  delays  in  getting 
the  necessaries  of  life  into  proper  working  trim. 
The  venison  brought  in  by  the  boys,  the  evening 
before,   had    not    beei^  fully   prepared  for    use; 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  423 

several  of  the  stores  had  to  be  looked  up,  and  the 
wood  cut  by  Sam  for  the  ship  stove,  did  not  fit.  To 
add  to  these  delays,  Frank's  nose  set  into  violent 
bleeding.  His  mother  exhausted  upon  him  all  her 
usual  devices  of  applying  something  cold  to  the 
back  of  the  neck,  and  of  making  him  snuff  cold 
water  up  the  bleeding  nostril.  Wildcat  looked 
with  curiosity  upon  these  several  attempts,  and  see- 
ing them  fail  said,  half  jocosely,  half  in  earnest, — 

*^  Give  him  me.     I  cure  him." 

Having  received  permission,  he  asked  Frank, — 

^' Which  side  bleed?'' 

Frank  showed  him  the  left  nostril,  and  Wildcat, 
taking  him  by  the  left  hand,  made  him  hold  it  up 
high  over  his  head,  instructing  him  to  stand  at  the 
same  time  upon  the  right  foot,  and  to  lean  his  head 
accordingly.  For  a  time  the  bleeding  seemed  to 
stop,  but  beginning  again  as  violently  as  ever, 
Wildcat  asked  Mrs.  Gordon  for  a  towel,  and  going 
toward  the  fore-hatch  said  to  Frank,  — 

"  Come  down  here,  I  cure  you  here.'' 

On  getting  below  deck  and  beyond  sight,  he 
made  Frank  strip  off  his  clothes,  then  threw  a 
sudden  dash  of  cold  water  upon  the  lower  part  of 
his  body,  saying  in  a  spirit  of  fun  as  he  did  so,  — 

"Musn't  holla !     Me  will  holla  for  you." 

Then  as  Frank  jerked  in  his  breath  preparatory 
to  an  exclamation.  Wildcat  uttered  a  loud  "  Ugh !  '^ 
as  if  shudderinff  with  cold.      A  second  dash  of 


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424  MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

cold  water  was  followed  by  two  of  these  grunts,  and 
a  third  by  three,  when  Wildcat  pronounced  the  cure 
complete.  And  so  it  was ;  for  cold  water  has  not 
only  a  powerfully  styptic  eflFect  when  applied  to  a 
bleeding  wound,  but  it  is  almost  as  efficacious  on 
a  bleeding  nostril  when  applied  by  sudden  shock 
to  the  lower  part  of  the  body. 

Frank  quickly  dressed  himself,  and  the  two  re- 
turned with  great  glee  to  the  company,  Wildcat 
leading  him  by  the  hand  to  Dr.  Gordon,  and  say- 
ing with  mock  boast,  — 

"I  great  medicine  man.  Esta-chattee  beat 
Buckra."  * 

Dr.  Gordon  smiled,  and  said  to  his  gay  young 
ward,  — 

"  I  think  I  shall  have  to  take  you  into  partner- 
ship, and  after  awhile  send  you  back  home  as  Doc- 
tor Wildcat." 

Frank's  call  upon  Doctor  Wildcat's  services  did 
not  end,  however,  with  the  stopping  of  the  nose 
bleed.  There  were  two  dishes  for  breakfast  that 
morning  of  which  he  was  excessively  fond,  venison 
steaks  and  fried  oysters,  and  he  manoeuvred  with 

*  Indian  beat  white  man.  The  term  buckrOf  which  is  said  to 
have  been  brought  from  the  Calabar  coast,  and  to  have  been 
used  originally  to  mean  "white  demon,"  is  in  general  use 
among  the  negroes  on  our  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coast,  also  in 
the  West  Indies,  and  to  some  extent  among  the  Florida  In- 
dians, to  mean  white  folks,  in  distinction  from  black  or  red 
people. 


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MAROONER'  S  ISLAND.  4Sf5 

such  skill  as  to  obtain  more  than  his  share  of  both. 
The  consequence  was  that  a  few  minutes  after 
breakfast  he  was  attacked  with  an  incontrollable 
fit  of  hiccups.  In  vain  he  tried  the  usual  mode 
of  cure  by  drinking  nine  swallows  of  water  with- 
out taking  breath;  in  vain,  too,  he  tried  Harold's 
plan  of  holding  his  breath  twice  as  long  as  he  covid 
(which  being  interpreted  practically  meant  holding 
his  breath  as  long  as  he  could,  twice ;)  in  vain  did 
his  brother  and  cousin  try  to  scare  oif  the  fit  by 
sudden  surprises;  it  was  not  to  be  relieved  by 
ordinary  means.  Wildcat  looked  on  as  a  quiet 
observer  of  these  modes,  and  at  last  said,  — 

"  Injin  doctor  can  cure  that,  too.'' 

Upon  taking  the  case  in  hand,  he  made  Frank 
press  the  point  of  his  third  finger  against  that  of 
his  thumb,  and  hold  them  together  for  several 
minutes;  but  as  the  remedy  proved  ineffectual,  he 
tied  a  string  tightly  around  the  wrist,  saying, — 

"  He  cure  now  I " 

Whether  owing  to  efficacy  in  the  means  used, 
or,  as  may  have  been  possible,-to  Frank's  diver- 
sion of  mind,  the  result  was  that  Dr.  Wildcat 
advanced  another  step  toward  earning  his  di- 
ploma. 

Meanwhile  the  work  of  refitting  the  little  vessel 
had  been  going  on.  Dr.  Gordon  at  first  thought 
that  a  splicing  of  the  broken  mast  would  suffice 
for  present  necessities,  but  he  was  soon  convinced 


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^6  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

that  time  would  be  saved  by  replacing  it  at  once 
with  a  new  one.  Leaving  Robert  to  aid  Sam  in 
removing  the  old  stump,  he  took  Harold  and 
Wildcat,  and,  by  special  request,  little  Frank,  and 
went  ashore  to  look  for  a  suitable  tree.  Any  one 
might  have  supposed,  in  looking  at  the  well-grown 
forest,  in  which  there  seemed  to  be  every  variety 
of  timber,  that  the  selection  need  not  have  detained 
them  five  minutes. 

But  when  the  necessary  conditions  came  to  be 
exacted,  that  it  should  be  of  certain  length,  certain 
diameter,  certain  taper,  straight,  tough,  free  from 
large  knots,  and  near  the  waterside,  the  search  was 
far  more  prolonged  than  would  have  been  expected. 

Discovery  at  last  rewarded  their  search,  and  a 
beautiful  tree  they  obtained — a  young  ash,  straight 
as  an  arrow,  and  almost  without  a  knot.  It  was 
soon  felled,  stripped  of  its  bark,  and  ready  for 
transportation.  In  endeavoring  to  adjust  the  tack- 
ling previous  to  its  being  put  into  posture,  it  was 
discovered  that  certain  parts  of  the  cordage  had 
been  so  greatly  injured  by  the  rough  handling  of 
the  gale  as  to  require  renewal,  and  that  there  was 
no  prospect  of  obtaining  what  was  needed  except 
by  another  visit  to  the  pirate  wreck.  Here  they 
all  recollected  having  seen  a  quantity  of  the  very 
article  called  for,  indeed,  a  portion  of  it  had  been 
brought  away  at  their  last  visit,  and  had  been 
stolen  by  Yaha-Lusty's  men.     And  now  since  a 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  427 

visit  to  the  wreck  was  determined  upon,  the  ques- 
tion arose,  Who  was  to  go  ?  Each  offered  his  ser- 
vices, and  gave  some  reason  appropriate  to  his  own 
case,  but  Dr.  Gordon  put  his  veto  on  all  applica- 
tions except  those  of  Sam  and  Wildcat,  who  alone 
could  plead,  that  in  case  of  meeting  with  Yaha- 
Lusty's  men  there  was  no  reason  to  apprehend  an 
attempt  upon  their  lives.  With  great  reluctance 
and  with  some  misgiving  Dr.  Gordon  saw  them 
depart,  taking  the  longer  but  safer  route  by  the 
seaward  side  of  the  island. 

While  they  were  gone,  the  others  pressed  on 
assiduously  with  the  work  of  getting  the  mast  in 
place  and  the  rigging  in  order.  Late  in  the  after- 
noon, while  the  sun  was  nearing  his  bed  in  the 
western  waters,  all  on  board  the  pilot  boat  were 
filled  with  anxiety  by  seeing  a  dark  smoke  roll  up 
from  the  southeast,  stretch  across  the  island,  and 
stream  far  out  to  sea. 

"  Look !  look ! "  suddenly  exclaimed  Harold, 
who  happened  to  have  his  eyes  turned  in  that 
direction.  The  others  looked  with  him,  and  saw 
an  immense  volume  of  whitish  vapor,  intermixed 
with  dark  objects  of  various  sizes,  shoot  up  far  into 
the  air  and  spread  itself  out.  A  quarter  of  a  min- 
ute afterward,  there  was  a  heavy,  lumbering  sound, 
like  thunder,  which  made  the  vessel,  and  even  the 
water,  vibrate. 

*^  I  very  much  fear  some  calamity  has  befallen 
Sam  and  Wildcat,"  said  Dr.  Gordon  anxiously. 


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428  MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

"  None  to  them,  I  am  pretty  sure,  for  here  they 
eome/'  responded  Harold,  pointing  to  the  farthest 
visible  limit  of  the  beach. 

The  voyagers  were  soon  alongside,  and  Wild- 
cat's cheery  voice  shouted  out, — 

"  Pirate  make  big  smoke.     She  gone,  now." 

"  Indeed !  is  that  the  smoke  of  the  pirate  wreck  ? '' 
inquired  Dr.  Gordon. 

"How  came  she  afire?" 

"  Happen  so.     Sara  can  tell,"  answered  Wildcat. 

But  Sam  could  tell  nothing.  He  looked  very 
stupid,  and  his  tongue  was  suspiciously  thick. 
On  subsequent  inquiry.  Dr.  Gordon  ascertained 
from  Wildcat  that  after  they  had  completed  their 
errand  at  the  wreck,  Sam  lingered  for  half  an  hour 
in  the  hold,  and  at  last  came  out  with  a  jug,  from 
which  he  imbibed  during  the  voyage,  until  he  be- 
came so  very  stupid  that  he  could  scarcely  manage 
either  oar  or  rudder.  It  was  to  be  supposed,  there- 
fore, that  while  engaged  in  filling  his  jug,  he  prob- 
ably dropped  a  half-extinguished  match  among 
some  combustibles,  or  what  was  quite  as  likely, 
left  his  candle  burning  on  a  place  where  it  finally 
communicated  with  the  ship. 

"  Then  we  have  seen  and  heard  our  last  of  the 
pirate  wreck,"  observed  Robert. 

^^ Seen,  yes,"  returned  his  father,  "but  I  doubt 
if  we  have  heard  our  last.  The  smoke  and  ex- 
plosion must,  of  course,  have  attracted  the  atten- 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  429 

tion  of  persons  on  the  main,  and  they  must  be 
very  lacking  in  the  usual  attributes  of  human 
nature  if  some  of  them  do  not  come  pretty  soon  to 
ascertain  the  cause." 

The  countenances  of  the  boys  exhibited  some 
anxiety  as  Dr.  Gordon  uttered  these  prophetic 
M'ords;  perceiving  which  he  went  on  to  say, — 

"  We  have  so  nearly  completed  our  work  of  re- 
fitting, that  I  hope  to  weigh  anchor  and  spread 
sail  sometime  to-morrow,  for  our  return  home. 
We  will,  therefore,  keep  watch  and  ward  again, 
as  we  did  last  night ;  then  get  to  work  early  in  the 
morning,  and  prepare  to  leave  Yaha-Lusfy's  terri- 
tory before  another  sunset." 

The  next  morning^s  sun  found  the  last-appointed 
sentinel  at  his  post,  glass  in  hand,  watching  a  sus- 
picious movement  in  a  clump  of  mangroves  far 
across  the  river.  One  of  the  canoes  now  went  to 
the  spring  for  a  new  supply  of  water  and  oysters, 
and  the  other  went  to  obtain  wood  for  the  stove, 
and  forage  for  the  brute  pets.  On  their  return 
there  was  the  tinkle  of  a  little  bell,  calling  them 
first  to  prayer,  and  then  to  breakfast ;  soon  after 
which,  they  were  engaged  in  their  shipwork,  and 
three  hours  afterward  they  hoisted  their  mainsail, 
and  saw  their  jib  flutter  in  the  breeze. 

"Now,  boys,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "before  we 
begin  our  voyage  home,  we  must  take  a  turn  or 
two  in  the  river  to  try  our  rigging,  and  to  prove 


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430  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

that  we  have  perfect  command  of  our  little  Sea 
Bird.  Then  we  can  anchor  at  the  spring,  take  in 
our  supply  of  wood  and  water,  and  set  our  bow 
for  Tampa." 

This  announcement  the  boys  received  with  a 
cheer,  in  which  Mary  and  Frank  united  with  all 
their  powers,  and  to  which  Frank  added, — 

"  Hurra  for  Bellevue ! " 

A  few  turns  of  the  capstan  brought  up  the  anchor. 
The  mainsail  was  hauled  around  to  catch  the  breeze, 
the  jib  fluttered,  then  filled,  and  the  Sea  Bird,  with 
her  head  to  sea,  was  joyously  dashing  the  water 
from  her  bows.  A  dozen  shiplengths  revealed  a 
defect,  which  caused  them  to  return  to  their  former 
anchorage  and  spend  a  few  minutes  in  correcting  it. 
In  her  next  trial  the  head  of  the  vessel  was  set 
against  the  wind,  to  try  her  power  of  tacking.  The 
river  at  that  point  was  full  half  a  mile  wide,  but 
the  part  of  it  which  they  allowed  themselves  to 
use  was  only  half  that  space,  in  order  to  keep  out 
of  rifle  range  from  the  other  shore.  They  had 
come  opposite  that  part  of  the  marsh  where  the 
suspicious  motion  of  the  mangroves  had  been  ob- 
served at  sunrise.  The  vessel  had  tacked  twice  in 
a  manner  most  satisfactory,  and  was  now  wearing 
around  for  the  purpose  of  beginning  her  home- 
ward voyage,  when  a  sudden  jet  of  whitish  va^wr 
darted  from  amidst  the  mangroves,  followed  by  a 
roar  of  cannon,  and  in  a  moment  afterward  their 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  431 

beautiful  mast  lay  upon  deck,  shivered  by  a  can- 
non-ball. 

This  was  a  most  unexpected  event,  for  who  ever 
associated  the  ideas  of  Indian  and  cannon?  But 
here  they  certainly  were  put  together.  Dr.  Gor- 
don looked  from  the  rolling  smoke  to  the  fallen 
mast,  and  exclaimed  sadly,  "  How  unfortunate !  ^' 
and  Robert's  eye  followed  his  father's.  Harold 
looked  fiercely  from  the  fallen  mast  to  the  yet 
moving  smoke,  muttered  something  between  h4s 
clenched  teeth  about  "  Redskinned  villains ! "  He 
had  barely  uttered  the  words,  — 

"Shall  we  not  send  them  a  cannon-ball  in  re- 
turn?'' when  Marj^'s  voice  was  heard  from  the 
cabin,  — 

"  Father,  come  here !     Aunt  is  hurt." 

Dr.  Gordon  was  making  a  hurried  move  to  the 
cabin,  when  Harold  darted  past  him,  reached  his 
mother's  side,  and  uttered  a  wail  of  distress.  When 
Dr.  Gordon  came,  he  found  her  lying  back  in  her 
chair,  senseless,  with  Mrs.  Gordon  supporting  her 
bloody  head,  and  Harold  kneeling  by  her,  the  pic- 
ture of  despair.  The  cannon-ball,  in  raking  the 
deck,  had  carried  into  the  cabin  a  splinter  from 
the  mast,  which  had  torn  quite  a  gash  in  Mrs. 
Mcintosh's  head. 

Dr.  Gordon  put  his  finger  into  the  wound, 
found  that  the  skull  was  not  injured,  then  felt  her 
pulse,  and  said,  — 


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432  MAROOXER'S  ISLAND. 

"Rub  her  palms,  Harold!  Fan  her,  Mary! 
She  is  not  seriously  hurt;  only  stunned.  Slie 
will  soon  recover.  Here,  let  me  sprinkle  her  face 
with  water,  then  I  must  go  on  deck." 

Promising  to  return  at  the  first  possible  moment, 
he  went  up,  made  a  hurried  examination  with  the 
glass  of  the  quarter  whence  the  shot  had  come, 
and,  while  he  was  thus  engaged,  saw  another  jet 
of  smoke  issue  from  the  marsh,  followed  by  a  per- 
ftct  shower  of  spray  about  midway  between.  A 
canister  loaded  with  musket-balls  had  been  fired, 
and  the  balls  had  struck  the  water  and  sunk. 

"  Man  the  boats !  "  said  he  to  Robert,  Wildcat, 
and  Sam,  "and*  pull  the  vessel  out  of  reach  of 
shot." 

The  two  boys  sprang  lightly  in,  but  Sam  made 
some  excuse  for  tarrying  until  the  canoes  were 
protected  by  having  the  vessel  between  them  and 
danger,  when  he  also  leaped  in  and  pulled  with 
great  vigor. 

A  few  minutes  afterward  there  was  another  dis- 
charge from  the  cannon,  which  sent  a  ball  dancing 
along  the  water  at  very  safe  distance  from  the  vessel. 

"I  thought  so,  and  this  proves  it,"  said  Dr. 
Gordon;  "that  first  shot  was  an  accident.  We 
need  fear  no  other." 

Harold  now  came  from  the  cabin,  reporting  his 
mother  recovered  and  doing  well,  though  com- 
plaining of  a  strange  feeling  in  her  head. 


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MAROONER'8  ISLAND.  433 

"  But,  uncle/'  said  he,  "  I  am  sorry  to  say  the 
vessel  is  leaking  so  badly  from  a  hole  below  the 
water-line  that  she  will  soon  fill,  unless  we  stop  it." 

His  uncle  went  with  him  instantly  into  the 
cabin,  gave  a  congratulatory  look  to  his  sister, 
then  passed  to  examine  the  leak.  The  ball,  glanc- 
ing downward  from  the  mast,  had  passed  through 
the  thin  floor,  and  out  of  the  side  below,  and  the 
water  was  pouring  in  with  a  noise  that  could  be 
distinctly  heard. 

It  was  manifest  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost, 
and  Dr.  Gordon,  passing  his  sister  again,  said,  — 

"  I  am  so  sorry,  my  dear  sister,  that  I  cannot 
be  with  you  yet,"  went  with  Harold  to  the  deck, 
where  he  hastily  tore  several  small  squares  of 
tarred  cloth,  laid  them  together,  and  directed 
Harold  to  enter  one  of  the  canoes,  reach  down 
under  the  water  and  plaster  these  squares  directly 
over  the  leak.  The  hole  was  only  two  feet  below 
the  water-line,  and  the  pressure  kept  the  pieces  of 
tarpaulin  to  their  place. 

During  the  progress  of  this  work,  there  was 
another  loud  explosion  from  the  marsh,  which 
was  not  followed  by  either  ball  or  canister.  Dr. 
Gordon  had  his  eyes  directed  there  at  the  moment 
it  took  place,  and  ere  the  sound  reached  him  he 
saw  the  body  of  an  Indian,  with  arms  and  legs 
ridiculously  sprawling,  shoot  up  into  the  air,  along 
with  some  other  small  objects  in  the  smoke,  then 
20 


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434  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

drop  into  the  river  near  by ;  after  which  the  Bel- 
levue  boat^  manned  by  four  paddlers^  was  seen  hur- 
rymg  away  for  dear  life. 

"*  Hoist  with  his  own  petard  I'"  Dr.  Gordon 
half  shouted  with  a  laugh^  as  he  looked  upon  the 
ridiculous  scene.  Then  recollecting  that  the  boys 
in  the  boat^  not  having  witnessed  the  event^  would 
scarcely  be  able  to  understand  the  quotation^  he 
added^  — 

"  One  of  those  poor  wretches,  in  trying  to  do  us 
a  wrong,  has  blown  himself  up.  Either  the  can- 
non has  burst  or  the  powder-keg  has  exploded — 
perhaps  both.  We  shall  have  no  more  trouble 
from  them  to-day .*' 

The  distance  between  the  place  of  anchorage, 
and  that  from  which  the  vessel  had  to  be  pulled 
was  over  a  mile,  and  the  only  help  being  from  a 
gentle  breeze,  they  were  more  than  an  hour  in 
overpassing  it. 

"There  are  two  necessary  works  to  be  done 
before  we  can  begin  our  voyage,^'  said  Dr.  Gordon ; 
"  one  is  to  stop  our  leak  more  securely,  and  the 
other  is  to  provide  a  new  mast.  Robert,  we  will 
leave  Sam  to  work  the  pump,  and  Harold  to  at^ 
tend  to  his  mother,  while  I  go  for  a  few  moments 
with  you  and  Wildcat  to  point  out  the  tree.'' 

To  pull  ashore,  and  point  out  one  selected  the 
day  before,  detained  him  a  very  short  time,  and 
Dr.  Gordon    used  his  first  available  moment  to 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  435 

return  to  his  wounded  sister.  He  ascertained  that 
the  singular  pain  complained  of  was  caused  by  a 
portion  of  the  splinter  as  large  and  long  as  his 
finger,  which  had  broken  off  from  the  rest,  and 
had  buried  itself  beyond  sight  between  the  scalp 
and  scull.  A  little  cutting  with  his  pen-knife 
enabled  him  to  reach  one  end  of  it  and  draw  it  out 
with  a  pair  of  pliers.  He  then  washed  the  wound 
very  clean,  removed  the  hair,  brought  the  lips  of 
the  wound  together  by  means  of  a  few  stitches, 
made  with  a  bent  needle,  bound  up  the  wounded 
part,  and  pronounced  his  work  of  surgery  com- 
plete. 

The  mast  was  brought  in  before  sunset,  nicely 
trimmed,  and  ready  for  setting.  Dr.  Gordon 
decided  as  to  the  leak,  that,  as  very  little  water 
now  came  in,  they  should  wait  until  they  could 
accomplish  their  carpentry  with  more  convenience. 
Then,  looking  at  the  declining  sun,  he  said,  — 

"  Now  is  our  time  for  beginning  to  keep  the 
fourth  commandment,  which  says,  ^Remember  the 
Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy ; '  that  is,  remember 
that  it  is  coming,  and  prepare  for  it,  so  that  no 
needless  work  remain  to  be  done." 

The  preparations  were  made.  The  evening 
was  pleasantly  closed,  and  all  retired  to  rest 
that  night,  except  the  watchers  in  turn,  thankful 
that  their  lives  had  been  spared  through  another 
week. 


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w 

I 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

SUNDAY,  MARCH  b --ABOUT  WORKING  ON  SABBATH 
^HAVE  BRUTES  SOULSt— REASONS  FOR  BELIEV- 
ING IN  OUR  OWN  IMMORTALITY—  THE  WONDER- 
FUL  SPY-GLASS— SIGNS  OF  DANGER— BARRICA- 
DING. 


SUALLY,  we  can  fortell  the  spirit  in 
whi«h  we  shall  awake  by  observing  the 
spirit  in  which  we  go  to  sleep.  A  poet 
of  nature  has  sung  — 

♦»The  child  is  father  of  the  man." 


This  is  as  true  of  our  every-day  life  as  of  our 
larger  and  longer  experiences.  The  future  seems 
chained  to  the  past,  like  link  to  link.  Our  past 
begets  our  future. 

The  pleasant  family  circle  on  board  the  pilot- 
boat,  that  retired  to  rest  so  devoutly  Saturday 
evening,  March  4th,  had  reason  to  expect  a  de- 
vout waking  up  the  next  morning.     The  Sabbath 

436 


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MA ROO NER 'S  ISL A ND .  437 

proved  to  them  a  day  of  rest.  It  could  scarcely 
have  been  otherwise,  even  had  some  of  its  hours 
been  compulsorily  given  to  labor  or  to  conflict. 
They  would  have  rested  in  spirit. 

From  labor  and  conflict,  however,  they  were 
spared.  The  several  thicknesses  of  tarpaulin, 
plastered  first  to  each  other,  then  over  the  small 
hole  in  their  vessel's  side,  acted  like  a  valve,  and 
almost  perfectly  arrested  the  inflow  of  water. 
And  their  dusky  foes,  although  stealthily  appear- 
ing more  than  once  far  up  the  river,  as  if  recon- 
noitring with  no  friendly  eye,  kept  themselves  at 
a  respectful  distance. 

In  the  course  of  the  day,  Harold  came  with  his 
cousin,  accompanied  by  Wildcat,  to  say  to  Dr. 
Gordon  that  they  had  been  deeply  interested  in 
his  remarks  the  preceding  Sabbath  about  the 
"  Existence  of  a  God,"  and  to  ask  if  he  would  not 
now  take  up  the  other  subject  — "  The  jSoul, 
and  its  Immortality,"  and  give  them  his  views 
upon  it  also. 

"A  very  interesting  subject,  truly,"  said  the 
Doctor,  "  but  much  more  difficult  than  the  other 
to  treat  simply  and  satisfactorily,  and  I  will  show 
you  why.  Do  you  believe,  Harold,  that  you  have 
a  soul?" 

"  Most  certainly,  sir,"  was  his  reply. 

"  Then  what  do  you  suppose  a  soul  to  be  ?  "  he 
asked, — 


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438  MAROONER'S    ISLAND. 

Harold  answered :  — 

"My  mother  taught  me  to  believe  it  is  that 
something  within  me  which  thinks  and  feek/' 

"A  very  good  definition,"  his  uncle  added. 
"  But  does  not  a  dog  also  think  ?  and  does  not  an 
oyster  feel?'' 

"Yes/' he  replied. 

"Well,  have  they  souls?" 

Harold  was  silent. 

"  I  will  not  press  this  point,"  his  uncle  said. 
"  We  will  turn  to  another.  Do  you  believe  that 
you  are  alive?" 

"  Surely,  sir,  I  should  be  deranged  if  I  doubted 
it,"  Harold  answered. 

"What  proof  have  you  of  it?"  his  uncle 
asked. 

"  I  need  no  proof,"  he  answered ;  "  I  am  con- 
scious of  it." 

"Then  will  you  tell  me  what  life  is?"  his 
uncle  softly  said. 

Harold  was  about  to  reply,  but  paused.  He 
looked  at  his  uncle,  at  Robert,  at  Wildcat,  then 
paused  again.     Robert  smiled. 

"  I  will  not  press  this  point,  either,"  said  his 
uncle,  "  but  allow  me  to  ask.  Do  you  think  you 
love  your  mother?" 

"I  not  only  think  so,  but  I  know  it,"  said 
Harold,  looking  aflFectionately  at  her,  "and  she 
knows  it,  too." 


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MAROONER'S  ISL A ND,  439 

"  You  are  sure,  then,  that  you  know  what  love 
is,"  Dr.  Grordon  said. 

"  I  know  it,  if  I  know  anything,"  Harold  re- 
plied, with  some  hesitation,  however. 

"  Then  please  to  tell  me  what  it  is." 

Harold  paused  longer  than  before,  and  Robert 
now  laughed  outright. 

"I  have  asked  you  these  questions,"  said  his 
uncle,  "  not  to  make  you  seem  ridiculous,  for  you 
have  answered  them  nearly  as  well  as  the  be^t 
philosophers  could  have  done,  but  to  show  you 
how  ignorant  we  are,  and  how  difficult  it  is  to  ex- 
press ourselves  on  some  of  those  subjects  that  seem 
plainest  and  best,  on  which  our  faith  is  most  fully 
established.  You  are  absolutely  certain  that  you 
are  alive,  yet  you  cannot  tell  me  what  life  is. 
You  are  just  as  certain  about  your  love  to  your 
mother,  and  about  her  love  to  you,  yet  you  find 
it  difficult  to  tell  what  love  is.  Now  do  not  be 
surprised  if  we  meet  with  difficulty  in  talking 
about  the  soul." 

Dr.  Gordon  here  paused,  as  if  gathering  up  his 
thoughts,  then  said : — 

"  I  understand  you  to  ask.  What  reason  have 
we  to  believe  that  we  have  souls,  and  that  these 
souls  live  forever?     Am  I  right?" 

Robert  and  Harold  assented,  and  he  continued : 

"  I  understand,  too,  tha|;*you  ask  for  some  plain 
and  easy  views  of  the  subject  —  so  plain  and  easy, 


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440  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

as  I  judge  from  the  coming  of  our  young  friend 
Wildcat,  that  he,  as  well  as  yourselves,  can  com- 
prehend it." 

The  boys  assented  again. 

"You  have  given  me  a  hard  task,"  said  he, 
"but  I  will  undertake  it,  and  do  the  best  I  can. 

"  Three  or  four  hundred  yeatrs  ago,  it  was  not 
known  to  our  fathers,  who  lived  on  the  other  side 
of  the  ocean,  that  there  was  such  a  country  as 
America.  Many  suspected,  and  a  few  almost  l)e- 
lieved  it,  some  for  one  reason,  some  for  another, 
but  no  one  was  certain,  until  Columbus  actually 
crossed  the  great  water,  and  carried  back  with  him 
as  proofs  some  of  the  new  people,  and  some  of 
the  new  fruits  to  be  found  here.  So  in  respect  to 
the  soul  and  its  immortality.  We  may  suspect  it, 
and  feel  pretty  sure  of  it,  but  to  be  positively 
certain,  we  must  have  such  testimony  as  can  be 
obtained  only  from  one  who  has  been  to  that 
other  country.  This  testimony  is  to  be  found 
only  in  the  Bible,  which  comes  to  us,  professedly, 
from  God  himself,  to  tell  us  all  we  need  to  know 
of  ourselves  and  of  himself,  and  of  that  other 
world,  from  which  no  human  traveller  returns. 
And  I  think  you,  Harold  and  Robert,  will  agree 
with  me,  that  if  the  Bible  teaches  anything  with 
clearness,  it  teaches  that  man  has  a  spirit  or  soul 
distinct  from  the  body,  and  that  this  soul  is 
immortal." 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  441 

To  this  Robert  replied  with  great  cordiality,  in 
the  name  of  the  others, — 

"  If  the  Bible  is  not  clear  on  these  points,  I 
think  it  is  not  clear  on  any.  When  our  Saviour 
on  the  cross  said  to  the  dying  man  at  his  side, 
'This  day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise,'  he 
certainly  did  not  speak  of  the  man's  body,  but 
his  soul." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  his  father,  with  a  look 
of  approval.  "  And,  in  view  of  this  fact,  I  will 
say  that  the  shortest  and  surest  way  to  satisfy 
one's  self  on  the  subject  of  the  soul  and  its  im- 
mortality, is  to  study  the  Bible  as  a  book  from 
God. 

"If,  however,  you  ask  for  proof  outside  the 
Bible  —  proof  to  be  obtained  from  what  is  called 
the  light  of  Nature — I  confess  that  there  is 
little  more  to  be  had  now  than  was  had  two  thou- 
sand years  ago,  when  Plato  wrote  his  celebrated 
work  on  the  subject." 

Dr.  Gordon  mused  again,  and  was  slow  to 
begin.     But  Harold  said : — 

"  Uncle,  please  give  us  some  of  that  little;  any- 
thing that  will  satisfy  you,  will,  no  doubt,  satisfy 
us." 

"  I  am  not  unwilling  to  give  it,"  said  his  uncle, 
"  I  was  only  thinking  how  unsatisfactory  the  light 
of  reason  is,  compared  with  the  light  of  revelation. 

"  That  there  is  something  within  us  that  thinks 


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442  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

and  feels,  that  loves  and  hates,  that  chooses  and 
refuses,  no  one  can  doubt.  We  know  it,  if  we 
know  anything.  That  something  we  call  the  soul. 
That  it  is  distinct  from  the  body  we  know  too, 
because  mere  flesh  and  blood  can  no  more  think 
and  feel  than  can  the  dry  dust  out  of  which  it  is 
formed,  and  to  which  it  shall  return.  It  is  this 
soul,  more  than  anything  else — yes,  more  than 
everything  else  —  that  we  call  ourselves.^' 

"But,  father,"  interrupted  Robert,  "will  not 
this  argument  prove  that  birds  and  beasts  have 
souls,  too?  For  they  certainly  think,  and  feel, 
and  love,  and  hate,  and  choose,  and  refuse." 

Most  people  are  unwilling  to  admit  that  brutes 
have  souls,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "but  we  cannot 
deny  that  they  have  something  within  which,  if 
it  is  not  soul,  is  so  nearly  akin  to  it  that  we  can 
scarcely  tell  the  difference.  Solomon  himself 
seemed  to  realize  this  when  he  asked,  *Who 
knoweth  the  spirit  of  man  that  goeth  upward, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  beast  that  goeth  downward 
to  the  earth?'  Eccles.  iii.  21.  By  ^spirit'  he  no 
doubt  meant  the  same  that  we  call  soul." 

"  But,  uncle,"  inquired  Harold,  in  surprise, "  do 
you  believe  that  the  souls  of  brutes  live  forever?" 

"That  is  a  very  different  question,"  his  uncle 
replied,  "and  is  variously  answered.  I  should 
have  no  objection  to  answering  Yes,  if  it  could  be 
proved  either  from  Scripture  or  from  reason ;  but 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  443 

I  see  little  in  favor  of  it,  and  much  against  it.  A 
soul  is  not  necessarily  immortal,  any  more  than  a 
body  is.  We  are  taught  in  the  Bible  that  the 
bodies  of  men  are  in  a  certain  sense  immortal,  too ; 
that  is,  they  shall  be  raised  up  at  the  last  day,  and 
shall  then  live  forever,  but  this  does  not  prove  that 
the  bodies  of  cows  and  sheep  shall  enjoy  the  same 
privilege." 

These  were  new  thoughts  to  the  boys,  and  Dr. 
Gordon  allowed  them  a  moment  or  two  to  ponder 
before  he  resumed. 

"Our  great  concern  now  is  with  the  question, 
Is  the  8oul  of  man  immortal  ?  That  he  has  a  soul 
we  have  just  now  proved  to  our  satisfaction,  but 
we  wish  to  know  whether  that  soul  shall  live  in 
another  state  of  being,  after  it  separates  from  the 
body,  or  whether  it  shall  die  like  the  brute,  and 
be  no  more.     I  will  give  the  answer  by  piecemeal. 

"  We  know  that  there  is  another  state  of  being, 
because  we  know  that  there  is  a  God.  He  is  a 
Spirit,  without  body  ;  yet  he  lives,  and  the  world 
in  which  he  lives  is  to  us  a  hereafter,  at  least  a 
beyond^  and  we  properly  call  it  a  hereafter,  or  fu- 
ture life,  because  we  cannot  conceive  of  ourselves 
as  entering  it  except  by  first  passing  through  the 
present  life.  We  feel  as  certain,  therefore,  that 
there  is,  what  is  to  us,  a  future  world,  as  that  there 
is  a  God.  We  have  now  two  points  settled, — We 
have  souls ;  there  is  another  state  of  being. 


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444  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

"  After  that  comes  a  third  question :  Does  the 
soul  outlive  the  body?  And  to  this  I  answer, 
that  if  the  soul  is  such  as  we  have  described  it, 
(and  I  know  of  no  better  definition,)  then  the 
fleshly  body  can  be  to  it  only  the  house  in  whicli 
it  lives,  or  the  doihing  in  which  it  is  enrobed. 

"  Wildcat,^'  he  continued,  turning  to  the  young 
Indian,  whose  coal-black  eye  had  been  fixed  upon 
him,  as  if  searching  his  thought  through  his  fece, 
as  well  as  by  his  lips,  "  were  you  to  find  in  yon- 
der wood  a  palmetto  tent,  without  any  one  living 
in  it,  or  were  you  to  find  on  the  ground  a  suit  of 
buckskin  clothes,  such  as  you  wear,  what  would 
you  conclude  about  the  person  to  whom  that  house 
or  suit  belonged  —  that  he  was  dead  or  not  dead?'' 

"  Don't  know,"  answered  Wildcat.  "  Maybe 
dead ;  maybe  not  dead ;  maybe  gone  away.'' 

"  You  are  right,"  Dr.  Gordon  said.  ",  Suppose 
now  you  were  to  see  fresh  signs  of  the  man,  not  a 
day  old,  and  to  see  at  the  same  time  that  the  tent 
he  had  left  was  no  longer  fit  to  live  in,  and  that  the 
clothes  he  had  thrown  aside  were  worn  out,  what 
would  you  say  ?  " 

"  Man  'live;  man  gone  away,"  answered  Wild- 
cat promptly. 

"  Right  again,"  said  Dr.  Gordon,  "  for  to  be 
persuaded  that  a  man  is  dead,  we  must  have 
stronger  proof  than  that  his  falling-down  house 
has  been  deserted,  or  that  his  worn-out  clothes 


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MAROONER'S   ISLAND,  445 

have  been  left  behind.  And  just  so  is  it  with  the 
soul.  We  have  no  right  to  believe  that  it  is  dead 
because  it  no  longer  inhabits  its  former  home.  It 
may  have  gone  away.  Oftentimes,  too,  it  happens 
that  when  the  body  comes  to  die,  the  soul  is  as 
fresh  and  strong  as  ever.  It  looks  through  the 
eyes,  and  talks  through  the  lips  until  the  eyes 
glaze  and  the  lips  grow  stiff  in  death.  If  it  dies 
at  all,  it  seems  to  die  after  the  body,  and  because 
the  body  dies.  But,  as  Wildcat  just  now  decided, 
it  is  not  sufficient  to  prove  a  man  dead  that  we 
find  his  house  empty  or  his  garment  left  behind. 

"  Another  reason  for  believing  that  the  soul  out- 
lives the  body  is  the  fact  that  the  purpose  for  which 
man  is  created  seems  to  be  seldom  fulfilled  in  this 
life.  Let  me  explain :  When  a  tree  has  lived  a 
certain  number  of  years,  and  attained  a  certain 
growth,  and  shaded  the  ground  and  fertilized  the 
soil  with  its  leaves,  and  dropped  its  seed  to  pro- 
duce others  of  its  kind,  it  has  accomplished  all 
that  it  is  fitted  for,  and  then  it  dies ;  its  work  is 
done.  In  like  manner,  brute  animals  fulfil  the 
purpose  of  their  existence.  The  ox  or  the  deer 
goes  to  its  feeding  place  in  the  morning,  and  there 
browses  until  its  hunger  is  appeased,  after  which 
it  takes  in  iis  supply  of  water,  and  then  lies  down 
in  some  comfortable  retreafc,  where  it  remains  un- 
til its  feeding  time  comes  again;  after  which  it 
retires  for  the  night,  and  feels  that  its  day's  duty 


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446  MAROOXER'S  ISLAND. 

is  done.  This  round  of  eating,  drinking,  sleep- 
ing, is  repeated  every  day,  until  its  last  day  closes 
its  career  forever.  Its  work  is  then  all  done,  and 
the  purpose  of  its  life  is  completed.  But  with 
man  it  is  not  so.  His  life  is  kll  a  preparation  for 
something  which  he  seldom,  if  ever,  attains  on 
earth.  He  eats,  drinks,  and  sleeps  to  fit  him  for 
labor,  and  he  labors  to  be  able  to  eat,  drink,  and 
sleep,  with  more  comfort  and  security.  But  this 
is  not  fulfilling  the  end  of  his  creation.  It  may 
suffice  for  a  brute,  but  not  for  him.  His  work  is 
as  much  more  noble  than  the  brutes,  as  his  nature 
is  much  more  exalted.  Then  what  is  it?  He 
never  finds  the  end  in  this  life,  but  closes  his 
earthly  course  reaching  toward  something  yet  be- 
yond. 

"  These  are  some  of  the  reasons,  obtained  out- 
side the  Bible,  for  believing  that  the  soul  outlives 
the  body.  There  are  others  which  may  be  given, 
but  none  which  would  probably  be  more  impres- 
sive. 

"  And  now,  although  you  may  suppose  the  sub- 
ject ended,  and  although  I  propose  here  to  end  it, 
there  is  one  more  question  to  be  asked.  We  have 
satisfied  ourselves  on  three  points — That  we  have 
souls ;  that  there  is  a  hereafter ;  and  that  our  souls 
probably  outlive  our  bodies.  But  in  giving  an- 
swer to  the  inquiry,  Is  the  soul  immortal?  we 
must  also  ask,  whether,  in  that  hereafter,  we  may 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  447 

expect  the  soul  to  \ive  forever  f  This  is  a  highly 
important  query.  There  is  nothing  sweeter  than 
life.  It  is  so  sweet  that  we  may  question  whether 
one  hour  spent  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  our  usual 
faculties  is  not  worth  all  the  pain  experienced 
during  an  ordinary  life-time;  and  it  is  so  vSluable 
that  we  may  be  excused  if  we  rush  past  millions 
upon  millions  of  years  and  ask,  shall  we  live  /o7*- 
evefi*  f  But  this  is  a  point  upon  which  the  light 
•of  reason  can  give  us  no  satisfaction.  It  bright- 
ens our  pathway  as  far  as  the  grave — it  enables 
us  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  life  beyond — but  on  the 
question  of  real  and  enduring  immortaWy,  it  sheds 
not  a  ray.  It  is  at  this  stage  of  our  inquiry  where 
we  feel  the  necessity  not  only  of  a  revelation,  but 
of  a  Divine  revelation.  No  one  this  side  of  God 
himself  can  give  the  answer.  The  present  dwell- 
ers in  that  other  world  are  as  much  interested  in 
it  as  we  are,  for  if  the  soul  of  man,  after  entering 
that  state,  is  liable  to  death,  or  to  ending  of  any 
sort,  so  may  be  the  spirit  of  every  angel  and  arch- 
angel, and  of  all  the  company  of  heaven. 

"  Thanks  be  unto  God  for  the  Bible  I  and  espe- 
cially for  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  '  which  brings  life  and  immortality 
to  light!''' 

With  this  the  conference  ceased,  and  all,  even 
Wildcat,  seemed  gratified. 

As  the  day  drew  near  its  close,  and  the  small, 


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448  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

weak  tide  reached  its  lowest  mark^  Dr.  Gordon 
observed  Robert  lean  over  the  vessel's  side,  look 
toward  the  patch  on  the  leak,  and  overheard  him 
say  to  Harold,  — 

"  We  shall  have  very  little  tide  to-night." 

His*  father,  soon  after  that,  caught  his  eye  and 
said, — 

"  Robert,  will  you  let  me  divine  your  thoughts  ?'' 

"  Certainly,  sir,  if  you  can,"  Robert  replied, 
with  a  smile  of  curiosity. 

"  If  I  mistake  not,"  said  his  father,  looking 
toward  the  bow  of  the  vessel,  "  a  part  of  your 
thought  was  about  that  anchor J^ 

"  You  are  right,"  he  replied,  much  surprised. 
"  But  I  said  nothing  about  it." 

"  No,  nor  did  any  one  else,"  his  father  added. 
"  Another  part  of  your  thought  was  that  the  an- 
chor was  not  in  the  right  place." 

"  You  surprise  me,"  Robert  returned.  "  How 
did  you  know  that?" 

"  Another  part  of  your  thought  was,  that  that 
anchor  ought  to  be  nearer  in  shore.  And  you  had 
some  debate  in  your  mind  whether  you  ought  not 
to  ask  me  about  it." 

"  Father,"  said  Robert,  with  a  kind  of  bewil- 
dered look,  "  you  are  a  magician.  How  have  you 
been  able  to  look  so  fiir  down  into  my  mind  ?" 

"  By  using  the  spy-glass  of  human  nature,"  his 
father  replied.     "  And  you  were  thinking,  too,  of 


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3IAR00NER'S  ISLAND.  449 

careening  the  vessel  on  the  sand,  by  means  of  to- 
night's tide." 

Robert  looked  puzzled  and  almost  alarmed. 

"  Father,"  he  said,  "  I  am  not  afraid  of  you, 
but  this  looks  very  strange.  Will  you  not  tell 
me  how  you  have  been  able  thus  to  read  my 
thoughts  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  his  father  responded  ;  "  I  used 
nothing  more  than  a  little  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  and  of  the  laws  of  mind,  I  saw  you  look 
down  toward  the  leak,  and  overheard  you  remark 
about  the  tide.  I  knew  you  had  been  anxious 
this  morning  about  stopping  that  hole,  and  you 
gave  us  to  understand  yesterday  that  your  plan 
for  getting  to  work  at  it  was  by  careening  on  the 
beach.  I  simply  put  these  parts  together,  and 
drew  my  inferences.  Two  and  two  make  four,  you 
know." 

Robert  looked  uneasy.  He  did  not  altogether 
like  to  be  searched  so  thoroughly,  even  by  his  fa- 
ther, for  every  one  prefers  to  have  a  privacy  into 
which  he  may  withdraw  at  will,  and  be  free  from 
observation.  He  was  somewhat  relieved,  however, 
and  disturbed,  too,  to  hear  his  father  say,  — 

"  Instead  of  laying  the  vessel  on  the  sand,  I  am 
disposed  to  draw  her  out  further  from  shore.  We 
can  easily  careen  her  sufficiently  for  our  purpose 
by  shifting  the  ballast.     Let  us  do  it  at  once." 

Robert  knew  that  there  must  be  some  strong 
2D 


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450  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

and  pressing  reason  for  this  act,  and  therefore  he 
asked, — 

"  Do  you  apprehend  any  danger  ?  " 

"  I  do,"  said  his  father,  "  although  I  can  scarcely 
give  good  reasons  for  it.  The  truth  is,  I  do  not 
like  the  way  those  canoes  up  the  river  have  been 
moving  to-day.  The  Indians  are  more  numerous 
than  ever,  and  they  are  bolder,  too.  I  am  afraid 
that  some  influence  is  at  work  to  lessen  their 
dread  of  the  island,  and  that  they  are  bent  on 
mischief 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  observed  Harold,  "  that 
Yaha-Lusty  and  his  men  have  suffered  enough  to 
keep  them  away.  They  have  lost  two  lives  already, 
and  both  of  these  by  a  kind  of  providence  or  judg- 
ment." 

"  I  suspect,"  said  his  uncle,  ^'  that  a  discovery 
of  the  prize  they  have  missed  in  the  pirate  wreck, 
has  something  to  do  with  their  present  actions ; 
and  that  they  will  not  be  content  without  attempt- 
ing to  regain  what  we  have  taken  out  of  her. 
But  however  this  may  be,  my  judgment  urges  me 
to  anchor  in  the  stream  out  of  gunshot,  and  also 
to  make  our  bulwarks  more  secure  by  a  little  bar- 
ricading." 

This  conversation  was  held  with  the  boys  out 
of  hearing  of  everybody  else.  The  result  was, 
that  before  dark,  they  had  drawn  up  the  anchor, 
pulled  the  vessel  into  the  stream,  and  put  the  deck 


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MAROONER'  S  ISLAND.  451 

in  good  fighting  condition  by  piling  against  the 
bulwarks,  at  several  places,  such  spars,  pieces  of 
fire-wood,  coils  of  rope,  and  other  movables  fitted 
to  resist  shot  as  they  could  find,  and  also  boring 
at  each  of  these  places  several  anger-holes  large 
enough  to  admit  the  muzzle  of  a  gun  with  some 
degree  of  play. 

With  these  precautionary  measures,  they  closed 
the  evening  much  earlier  than  usual,  expecting  to 
be  up  and  at  work  long  before  daylight  in  the 
morning. 


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CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

INDIAN  WILES  ^BLOODY  INTENTIONS -'UNEX- 
PEC  TED  HELP, 


HE  half-waned  moon  did  not  rise  till 
midnight.  Not  long  before  its  level-cut 
face  peeped  over  the  distant  mainland. 
Wildcat,  whose  watch  was  about  to  close, 
went  softly  to  Harold,  awoke  him  gently,  and 
beckoned  him  aside. 

"  Injin  in  the  river,"  said  he;  "Injin  pulling 
our  boat.     Come  see." 

Harold  went  with  all  silence  and  dispatch, 
peeped  over  the  side  of  the  vessel  through  a  small 
crevice,  where  he  could  see  without  being  seen, 
and  was  surprised  to  discover  one  of  the  canoes 
slowly  moving  against  the  tide  toward  the  ves- 
sel's bow. 

"  Moved  by  a  fish,"  said  he  to  Wildcat,  in  a 
whisper. 

"  No  fish !  no  fish,  but  Injin,"  Wildcat  persisted. 
Leaving  him  in  momentary  charge,  Harold  hur- 

452 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  453 

ried  noiselessly  to  his  uncle,  and  bringing  him  to 
the  companion-way,  whispered  to  him  the  state  of 
the  case,  and  asked  if  the  unseen  mover  of  the 
boat  was  not  probably  a  fish. 

"  I  think  not,^'  said  his  uncle,  stepping  back 
from  the  vessel's  side,  after  an  examination.  "  I 
strongly  suspect  at  is  an  Indian,  and  that  he  is 
either  trying  to  steal  our  boat,  which  he  cannot 
do  on  account  of  the  chain,  or  else  he  is  reconnoi- 
tering  with  a  view  to  some  plan  of  attack.  Let  us 
watch  him." 

By  this  time,  Robert  and  Sam,  aroused  while 
Dr.  Gordon  was  making  his  examination,  had 
come  on  deck,  guns  in  hand,  ready  for  service. 
Wildcat,  who  continued  watching,  now  announced, 
with  some  excitement, — 

"  Can  see  Injin.  Four  head,  five  head,  close  by 
ship." 

Dr.  Gordon  peeped  again,  and  could  scarcely 
believe  his  eyes  when  he  saw  four  or  five  black 
objects,  like  Indians'  heads,  upon  the  surface  of 
the  water,  between  the  vessel's  side  and  the  moving 
canoe.  The  aim  of  this  stealthy  movement  now 
flashed  upon  him  —  it  was  to  take  the  vessel  by 
surprise,  and  to  board  her  by  climbing  the  bow- 
sprit from  the  canoe.  He  instantly  decided  upon 
his  course  of  action.  Calling  the  others  to  a  pile 
of  large  cannon-balls  on  deck,  he  ordered  each,  in 
a  whisper,  to  take  two  of  them,  and  be  ready  when 


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454  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

he  gave  the  word,  to  throw  them  directly  upon 
the  heads  below. 

One  thought  produced  a  ^momentary  hesitation 
and  a  slight  change  in  his  plan.  It  was,  that  pos^ 
sibly  these  persons  might  be  there  without  hostile 
intent.  Was  he  not  bound  to  hail  them  first,  and 
to  give  them  a  chance  to  declare  themselves  ?  It 
was  almost  certain  that  a  call,  unless  very  quickly 
followed  by  the  blow,  would  permit  most  of  them 
to  escape.  But  his  regard  for  human  life  was  so 
sacred  that  he  resolved  to  run  the  risk. 

"  Do  as  you  see  me  do,''  said  he  to  the  others, 
who  were  ready  with  balls  and  loaded  guns.  "  Lean 
over  the  bulwarks,  and  each  select  his  man.  I  will 
hail,  and  if  they  make  any  attempt  to  escape,  give 
them  your  balls  first,  and  your  guns  afterward." 

With  noiseless  tread  they  went  together  to  the 
vessel's  side,  where  each  selected  his  mark,  and 
stood  ready  with  uplifted  ball. 

"  Who's  there?  Speak,  OB  you  die  !"  sounded 
the  stern,  imperative  voice  of  Dr.  Gordon. 

The  only  answer  returned  was  an  "  Ugh  ! "  of 
surprise  from  the  heads  below,  turned  up  quickly 
to  see  the  threatening  death,  and  then  a  splashing 
of  the  water,  as  each  attempted  to  draw  himself 
under  the  canoe  for  protection.  But  the  motion 
was  not  quick  enough. 

"  Let  them  have  it ! "  shouted  Dr.  Gordon,  and 
instantly  there  was  a  heavy  splash  in  the  water. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  455 

accompanied  by  a  crashing  sound,  as  if  some  of 
the  balls  had  taken  effect  upon  some  substance 
other  than  water. 

"  Let  them  have  anotlier  round !  ^'  said  Dr.  Gor- 
don, and  again  the  balls  flew,  and  of  the  sounds 
that  followed,  there  could  be  distinguished  more 
than  one  human  voice  gurgling  through  the  water. 

Ere  the  second  discharge  of  balls,  Harold  had 
run  toward  the  stern,  and  now  called  aloud, — 

"  Here  are  more  of  them ! ''  and  at  the  same  in- 
stant his  rifle  flashed  upon  the  darkness. 

"  Give  them  your  guns  wherever  they  appear !'' 
was  Dr.  Gordon's  order,  and  in  the  course  of  half 
a  minute  a  dozen  guns  had  been  discharged  from 
bow,  stern,  and  vessel's  side,  each  aimed  at  what 
in  the  darkness  appeared  to  be  an  Indian's  head. 

Then  all  was  again  quiet  upon  the  water.  How 
many  had  attacked  the  vessel,  and  how  many  had 
perished,  could  not  be  determined.  There  were  as 
many  as  eight  heads  counted,  five  at  the  bow,  and 
three  at  the  stern,  and  of  these  eight  it  was  not  cer- 
tain that  any  got  safely  away  ;  but  from  the  known 
expertness  of  Indians  in  the  water,  and  from  the 
sound  of  distant  voices  in  the  dark,  there  was 
reason  to  believe  that  several  had  succeeded  in  es- 
caping. 

One  suspicious  circumstance  remained, — some- 
thing black  floated  upon  the  water  just  outside  of 
the  canoe.     What  could  it  be  ?     Possibly,  a  poor 


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466  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

wounded  wretch,  who,  being  too  badly  hurt  to  get 
away,  had  fastened  himself  there.  A  lantern  was 
brought  and  held  over  the  gunwale.  The  red 
light  revealed  no  human  body,  but  a  floating  log, 
which  had  been  used  probably  to  aid  the  assailants 
in  swimming ;  at  the  same  time  there  was  in  the 
canoe  the  glitter  of  something  metallic. 

"  Let  us  go  down  and  see  what  that  is,''  said 
Harold  ;  but  as  the  words  issued  from  his  mouth, 
two  rifles  flashed  upon  the  darkness  fifty  or  sixty 
yards  away,  accompanied  by  the  murmur  of  words 
whose  tone  was  that  of  cursing,  "  not  loud  but 
deep,''  and  the  balls  whizzed  harmlessly  by  their 
heads. 

"  Boat  out  yonder.  Can  hear  paddle,"  said 
Wildcat. 

The  others  gave  undivided  attention,  but  could 
distinguish  only  a  faint  sound  of  water  disturbed, 
which  the  quick  ear  of  the  young  Indian  had  re- 
solved into  its  true  character. 

"  What  a  pity  our  guns  are  all  empty ! "  ex- 
claimed Harold,  looking  regretfully  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  receding  sounds.  "  We  might  have 
given  them  a  parting  volley." 

"  I  suspect  they  will  be  satisfied  with  what  they 
have  received,"  his  uncle  replied;  "and  I  am 
weary  of  taking  life." 

By  this  time,  the  ladies,  and  even  little  Frank, 
had  come  on  deck,  for  although  the  scene  has  taken 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  457 

pages  to  describe,  it  took  but  few  minutes  to  enact. 
The  account  which  they  received  of  their  immi- 
nent peril,  and  of  their  almost  miraculous  deliv- 
erance, filled  them  with  profound  emotion.  They 
shuddered  to  think  what  might  have  been  their 
experience  at  that  moment  had  not  the  coming  of 
their  enemies  been  detected. 

"  What  made  you  suspect  them  ?"  Dr.  Gordon 
asked  Wildcat. 

"  Hear  boat  chain  clink/^  returned  he. 

The  warning,  however,  must  have  been  so  slight 
that  it  would  probably  have  escaped  notice  from 
£^ny  other  ear  on  board  than  his.  Dr.  Gordon 
was  so  convinced  of  this  that  he  turned  to  him 
with  much  feeling  and  said, — 

"  Wildcat,  we  owe  our  lives,  under  God,  to  your 
faithful  watching.'^  Then  laying  his  hand  upon 
the  boy's  head,  he  added  fervently, — "May  he 
watch  over  you,  and  reward  you  as  we  never  can.'' 

"Amen  !"  and  "  Amen  !"  resounded  so  heartily 
from  all  around,  that  poor  Wildcat  broke  away, 
from  the  presence  of  his  friends  and  plunged  for 
refuge  down  the  hatchway. 

"  We  have  not  examined  what  it  is  that  lies  glit- 
tering in  the  canoe,"  said  Harold.  "  Let  us  go  and 
see,"  he  spoke  to  Robert. 

While  they  were  preparing  to  go  down,  Wild- 
cat, who  conjectured  the  truth  from  the  sounds  of 
clambering  on  the  vessel's  side,  hurried  from  be- 


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458  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

low,  and  joined  them.  They  used  a  small  ladder 
of  rope,  and  Dr.  Gordon  held  a  lantern  as  they 
went.  Scarcely  had  they  reached  the  middle  of 
the  canoe  ere  the  boys  uttered  a  cry  of  wrath  and 
horror. 

"  What  have  you  found?"  asked  Dr.  Gordon. 

"  We  will  show  you  in  a  moment,  father,"  Rob- 
ert replied,  his  voice  trembling  with  excitement. 

He  clambered  back  with  the  others,  and  showed 
a  handful  of  butcher  knives,  ground  very  sharp  at 
point  and  edge,  for  the  double  purpose  of  stabbing 
and  cutting. 

"These  are  the  instruments  with  which  they 
intended  to  take  our  lives,"  said  Robert, 

"  And  scalp  too,"  added  Wildcat. 

"  They  put  them  in  the  canoe  for  safe  keeping, 
no  doubt,  until  they  could  leap  on  board  and  ase 
them  on  us,"  remarked  Harold,  shuddering,  as  he 
looked  at  his  mother  and  the  rest. 

This  feature  in  the  intended  tragedy  was  so 
plainly  pictured  in  those  horrid-looking  knives, 
'that  each  one's  blood  ran  cold  at  the  sight,  and 
each  realized  more  vividly  than  ever  the  greatness 
of  their  deliverance. 

"  Let  us  go  to  work  at  once,  and  get  away  from 
this  dangerous  neighborhood,"  said  Robert,  look- 
ing at  his  father  ;  "  I  am  ready  to  begin  work  this 
minute." 

"  We  shall,  then,  have  to  work  on  our  mast  by 


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wi 


MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  459 

candle-light,"  responded  his  father,  "  and  I  think 
it  will  not  be  pleasant,  even  if  it  should  be  safe, 
to  work  feeling  that  we  make  targets  of  ourselves. 
Two  or  three  hours  hence  the  moon  will  give  us 
all  the  light  we  need  for  our  work,  and  also  to 
keep  a  good  lookout  upon  the  water.  No  Indian 
will  dare  attack  us  then." 

All  work  was,  therefore,  delayed  until  three 
o'clock.  The  excitement,  natural  to  scenes  such 
as  they  had  just  passed  through,  kept  the  company 
on  deck  in  animated  conversation  for  some  time. 
Frank  at  last  began  to  show  signs  of  weariness j 
and  his  father  said  to  him, — 

"  Come,  Frank,  I  will  join  you  in  going  to  bed. 
Others  may  sit  up,  if  they  please,  but  I  shall  need 
all  the  sleep  I  can  get,  to  fit  me  for  the  labors  I 
foresee  to-day." 

One  by  one,  all  turned  in,  except  Harold,  who 
was  on  duty,  and  Mrs.  Mcintosh,  who  insisted  on 
keeping  him  company.  Her  motherly  heart,  which 
had  been  all  aroused  by  his  tenderness  two  days 
before,  when  she  was  wounded,  had  had  no  oppor- 
tunity yet  for  expressing  itself,  and  now,  to-night, 
she  felt  more  drawn  to  him  than  ever  for  doing 
his  part  in  saving  her  once  more  from  death. 

"  Do,  dear  mother,  go  in  and  try  to  sleep,"  he 
implored  ;  "  I  am  used  to  this  kind  of  life,  and 
you  are  not." 

But  he  implored  in  vain.     She  replied  that  she 


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460  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

preferred  remaining  on  deck ;  that  she  was  wide 
awake,  and  that  the  cool,  open  air,  was  too  pleas- 
ant to  be  exchanged  for  the  close  air  of  the  cabin. 
He  then  brought  a  chair  and  a  shawl,  wrapped  her 
up  close,  and  seated  her  at  a  spot  where  his  tread 
as  sentry  would  bring  him  oflenest  and  nearest  to 
her,  and  there,  under  the  quiet  skies,  and  in  the 
light  of  the  ascending  moon,  they  talked  freely 
and  largely  upon  the  past,  the  present,  and  the 
future. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  his  watch  ex- 
pired, and  that  was  the  hour  appointed  by  Dr. 
Gordon  for  calling  all  hands  to  work. 

By  this  time  the  brilliant  half  moon  had  risen 
far  into  the  heavens,  and  her  pure  beams  not  only 
afforded  all  the  light  needful  for  their  operations 
on  deck,  but  illumined  the  surface  of  the  water  all 
the  way  to  the  white  beach  and  snowy  bluff. 

The  work  of  preparing  the  new  mast  went  on 
prosperously,  and  without  incident,  until  nine 
o'clock,  when  Mary,  who,  with  her  aunt,  had  as- 
sumed the  duties  of  the  kitchen,  came  to  her  father 
with  the  unpleasant  intelligence  that  the  fresh  wa- 
ter aboard  was  exhausted,  and  that  until  more  was 
obtained  all  culinary  operations  were  at  an  end. 
Her  father  was  not  only  loth  to  stop  the  work 
which  all  were  so  anxious  to  complete,  but  he  had 
conceived  a  real  dread  of  going  ashore,  as  if  it 
were  a  place  no  longer  safe.     Water,  however,  is 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  461 

an  indispensable  of  life,  and  must  be  had,  cost 
what  it  may.  He,  therefore,  made  no  delay,  ex- 
cept to  devise  the  easiest  and  safest  mode  of  obtain- 
ing it. 

**  We  must  drop  down  stream,  opposite  the  Live- 
oak  Spring,"  said  he  to  the  boys,  "  and  take  in  at 
once  our  supply  for  the  voyage.  But  whatever 
going  ashore  we  do  now,  must  be  done  in  force." 

They  pulled  the  vessel  down  to  the  appointed 
place,  anchored  her  out  of  reach  of  shot  from 
shore,  took  into  the  two  canoes  all  the  water  ves- 
sels they  could  command,  and  arming  themselves 
each  with  a  gun  and  a  brace  of  pistols,  they  sallied 
ashore, — Dr.  Gordon,  Harold,  Wildcat,  and  Sam 
being  in  the  boat,  leaving  Robert  as  the  only  guard 
on  the  vessel. 

Before  going,  however.  Dr.  Gordon  had  the  pre- 
caution to  examine  well  the  whole  island  and  beach 
as  far  as  the  spy-glass  could  penetrate,  also  to  load 
the  little  cannon  with  canister  shot,  and  set  her  in 
position  for  raking  the  bluff,  and  to  load  all  the 
guns  and  pistols  left  aboard,  and  put  them  at  Rob- 
ert's command,  saying  at  the  same  time  to  his  sis- 
ter, on  whose  strong  and  steady  nerves  he  knew  he 
could  rely, — 

"  I  leave  you,  sister,  as  well  as  Robert,  to  watch 
and  give  me  warning  of  the  first  appearance  of 
anything  suspicious.  I  have  a  presentiment  of 
danger,  without  being  able  to  assign  a  reason  for 


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4G2  MAROOAER'S  ISLAND. 

it,  except  that  I  scent  it.  We  will  take  qaite  an 
armory  of  fighting  implements  in  the  canoes,  and 
leave  almost  as  large  a  number  aboard  for  yow  and 
llobert,  if  you  know  how  to  use  them.  Mary 
does,"  he  added,  looking  approvingly  at  his  daugh- 
ter, "and  I  hope  she  has  courage,  and  nerve 
enough  too,  to  use  them  in  time  of  need.  Eh, 
Mary?'' 

Mary  replied,  "  I  hope  so,  but  hope,  too,  there 
will  be  no  need."  And  Mrs.  Mcintosh  appended 
that  although  she  herself  could  not  boast  of  much 
skill,  she  knew  both  how  to  load  and  to  fire  a  gun, 
and  she  hoped  that  in  a  time  of  trial  she  would 
prove  herself  worthy  of  being  Harold's  mother. 

Dr.  Gordon's  words  in  parting  were, — 

"  No  doubt  Yaha-Lusty  perceives  that  we  are 
almost  ready  to  leave.  No  doubt,  too,  he  suspects 
that  if  there  was  anything  of  value  on  the  pirate 
wreck,  we  have  transferred  it  to  this  vessel.  If, 
therefore,  he  can  possibly  muster  force  enough  for 
the  purpose,  I  think  he  will  make  a  determined 
effort  to  possess  himself  of  our  craft.  Therefore 
I  say  to  you,  Watch." 

Prudent  though  he  had  been,  almost  to  the  ap- 
pearance of  timidity,  there  was  one  spot  which 
Dr.  Gordon  had  neglected  to  examine.  That  was 
Fish  Point,  whence  he  had  just  come,  but  which, 
by  its  projection  into  the  water,  concealed  from 
view  a  narrow  strip  of  the  river,  sufiicient  to  allow 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAM).  46P» 

boats  that  closely  hugged  the  shore  to  come  down 
from  the  bend  above,  and  conceal  themselves  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  vessel. 

The  two  canoes  went  safely  ashore.  For  nearly 
an  hour  they  were  occupied  in  replenishing  theii 
vessels  from  the  slowly  filling  spring.  Mrs.  Mcin- 
tosh aided  Robert  in  keeping  faithful  watch  with 
eye  and  glass.  Mary  and  Frank,  having  recited 
their  usual  daily  lessons  to  their  mother,  were  now 
on  deck,  standing  near  their  aunt  and  amusing 
themselves  with  playing  watchmen.  Suddenly, 
Frank,  whose  position  opened  to  him  a  narrow 
vista  on  shore,  not  visible  to  the  others,  exclaimed, — 

^^  Sister  Mary !  See  yonder,  behind  that  clump 
of  prickly  pears,  what  a  queer  thing  comes  moving 
along!    What  can  it  be?" 

Mary  was  as  much  puzzled  as  he,  for  what  he 
saw,  through  an  opening  in  the  cactus  on  shore, 
seemed  to  be  a  shapeless  mass  of  brown  herbage, 
or  of  dressed  deerskin,  she  could  not  tell  which, 
mysteriously  moving  toward  the  bluff,  with  a  kind 
of  rolling  motion. 

"Aunt,"  said  she  quickly,  and  in  a  tone  of 
alarm,  "  what  can  it  be  ?   It  does  look  very  queer." 

Her  aunt,  who  was  using  the  spy-glass,  looked 
for  a  moment  only  through  the  opening,  and  ex- 
claimed in  terror, - 

"  Robert,  halloo  as  loud  as  you  can,  and  raise 
the  red  flag !     Quick  !  quick  !     There's  danger  !'* 


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464  MAROOKER'S  ISLAND. 

What  had  puzzled  Mary  and  Frank  were  the 
horizontal  backs  of  a  file  of  Indians  bent  almost 
to  the  ground,  and  marching  at  a  half-run  toward 
the  bluff,  and  coming  in  a  line  so  straight  that  the 
head  of  the  first  only,  and  the  backs  of  the  others 
could  be  seen  from  the  vessel. 

Mrs.  Mcintosh  observed  that  the  moment  the 
halloos  reached  shore.  Dr.  Gopdon  and  the  rest 
dropped  their  work,  seized  their  guns,  and  stood 
upon  the  defensive;  though  from  the  intervening 
bluff  they  could  learn  nothing  of  the  nature,  num- 
ber or  position  of  their  foes.  They  were,  however, 
not  left  long  in  doubt.  Four  of  the  assailants,  of 
whom  two  were  negroes,  stopped,  apparently  as  a 
reserve  corps,  under  the  large  live-oak,  while  four 
others,  of  whom  the  leader  was  a  gaudily  dressed 
negro,  fantastically  painted,  ran  to  the  edge  of  the 
bluff,  levelled  their  pieces  and  fired  at  the  compapy 
at  the  spring,  and  having  drawn  their  fire  in  re- 
turn, retired  as  if  to  reload,  but  in  fact  to  allow 
the  reserve  corps  to  come  up  and  fire  more  delibe- 
rately. 

As  this  was  going  on,  Mrs.  Mcintosh,  who 
seemed  to  have  an  intuitive  perception  of  their 
plan,  called  to  Robert,  — 

"Remember  the  cannon.  Aim  right  on  the 
party  coming.^' 

Robert  was  not  an  expert  artillerist.  He  did 
not  succeed  in  bringing  his  piece  to  bear  exactljr 


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MARO  ONER'S  ISLAND.  465 

right  until  the  second  exchange  of  shots  was  tak- 
ing place,  when,  as  his  canister  of  bullets  went 
hurtling  ashore,  he  heard  his  aunt  give  a  shriek, 
and  saw  her  fall  upon  the  deck.  Had  she  been 
hurt  ?  She  could  not  have  been.  Then  what  was 
the  matter?  He  looked  ashore,  and  saw  what  made 
his  own  blood  recoil  with  terrible  force  upon  his 
heart, — his  father  and  Wildcat  were  the  only  per- 
sons standing, — Harold  arid  Sam  lay  prostrate  on 
the  beacK 

"Oh,  mother!"  he  exclaimed,  clasping  his 
hands  in  agony.  "  Harold  is  down  1  and  so  is  Sam  !" 

But  a  moment  after  he  called  out  joyfully, — 

"  Aunt !  aunt !  wake  up  !  Harold  is  not  killed ; 
he  is  standing  by  father,  strong  and  brave  as  ever." 

At  these  words,  Mrs.  Mcintosh  slowly  opened 
her  eyes,  rose  to  her  feet,  gave  one  look  to  her  son, 
then  another  to  Heaven,  and  was  perfectly  herself 
once  more. 

That  cannon-shot  was  most  terrifying  to  the  In- 
dians. It  was  evidently  unexpected,  for  in  the 
hurry  of  exchanging  platoons,  both  those  coming 
and  those  going  marched  in  a  direct  line  with  the 
range  of  the  balls;  and  the  effect  w^as  in  a  high 
degree  disastrous,  for  the  balls  tore  through  the 
midst  of  them,  killing  one  of  them  outright, 
wounding  another,  and  enveloping  them  all  in  a 
cloud   of  dust.     The  one  killed  was  the  gaudily 

dressed  negro   who   had  opened  the  attack,  and 

2E 


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466  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

whose  fall  seemed  greatly  to  disconcert  the  rest, 
for  they  gathered  round  him  and  stood  inactive, 
instead  of  reloading  their  pieces. 

"  Make  haste  and  give  them  another  load !  ^^  said 
Mrs.  Mcintosh  to  Robert,  the  moment  her  eyes 
could  take  in  the  scene  just  described ;  but  ere  his 
gun  was  loaded,  the  attention  of  all  on  board  was 
forcibly  called  in  another  direction.  Mrs.  Gordon 
was  on  deck,  her  face,  pale  from  long  disease,  ren- 
dered still  more  pallid  by  present  excitement.  She 
was  standing  near  Robert,  when  suddenly  she 
grasped  him  by  the  shoulder,  and  in  speechless 
terror  pointed  up  the  river. 

Dreadful  to  see,  two  canoes,  each  containing 
three  yelling  Indians,  had  shot  from  behind  the 
concealment  at  Fish  Point,  and  were  urging  their 
way  with  all  sj)eed  to  board  the  vessel  while  its 
defenders  were  occupied  on  shore.  It  was  a  well- 
laid  plan.  Their  a})proach  was  not  observed  until 
they  had  gained  half  way  to  the  vessel.  They 
were  still  much  farther  off  than  the  boats  ashore, 
but  it  was  manifest  to  all  aboard  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  Dr.  Gordon  and  the  boys,  beset  as  they 
were  by  enemies,  to  launch  their  boat,  get  her  un- 
der headway,  and  reach  the  vessel  in  time  to  keep 
off  these  new  assailants.  Death  certain,  death  ter- 
rible, from  the  ^ands  of  these  ruthless  wretches, 
seemed  to  be  the  fate  of  all  on  board. 

But  Mrs.  Mcintosh  was  not  a  woman  to  suc- 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  467 

cumb  so  long  as  anything  in  defence  of  life  could 
possibly  be  done.  The  present  desperate  emer- 
gency only  awakened  all  her  energies. 

"  Robert,"  said  she,  with  a  resolute  smile  upon 
her  blanched  face,  "  Mary  and  I  can  help  you  in 
this  our  first  battle.  Come ;  let  us  move  the  guns 
forward.  Each  of  us  can  aim  at  a  man  in  the 
foremost  boat,  then  at  those  in  the  second.  And, 
Father  of  mercies,"  she  continued,  looking  up- 
ward, "  give  us  good  speed  this  day  I " 

Holes  for  small  arms  had  been  bored  the  even- 
ing before  through  the  barricaded  bulwarks,  and, 
fortunately  for  the  present  necessity,  two  of  these 
barricades,  with  several  holes  each,  had  been  pre- 
pared at  the  bows,  which  headed  toward  the 
coming  foe.  Robert  put  a  loaded  musket  through 
each  of  these  holes,  and  seating  himself  at  the 
barricade,  quietly  awaited  the  approach  of  the  hos- 
tile canoes. 

Engrossed  as  they  were  with  the  prospect  of 
speedy  and  of  deadly  conflict,  their  attention  was 
attracted  by  another  discharge  of  firearms  on  shore. 
Turning  a  hasty  glance  in  that  direction,  the  scene 
that  met  their  eyes  baffled  conjecture.  All  was 
commotion.  Dr.  Gordon  and  the  boys  having 
just  become  aware  of  the  danger  threatening  the 
vessel,  were  making  frantic  efforts  to  launch  one 
of  the  boats  and  to  push  off.  The  firing  did  not 
come  from  them,  nor  from  the  Indians  on  the  bluff. 


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L 


468  MAR 0  0 NER ' S  ISL A KD. 

A  whitish  cloud  of  moving  smoke  showed  that  the 
discharge  had  proceeded  from  amid  the  branches 
of  the  live-oak.  The  Indians  under  the  tree,  • 
strange  to  say,  were  hurrying  away  from  it  as  fast 
as  they  could  run,  while  shot  after  shot  from  the 
branches  above,  dropped  them  in  their  tracks. 
Two  of  those  under  the  tree  had  thus  fallen,  and 
also  one  of  those  upon  the  bluflF. 

These  last,  seeing  one  of  their  number  fall  by  a 
shot  from  an  unexpected  source,  hastily  turned  to 
see  whence  it  came.  This  was  the  moment  when 
Dr.  Gordon  and  the  boys,  not  knowing  what  was 
going  on  above,  but  only  that  their  loved  ones 
were  threatened,  rushed  to  the  nearest  canoe,  leaped 
into  it,  and  pulled  with  all  their  might  toward  the 
vessel. 

For  what  reason,  Mrs.  Mcintosh  and  the  others 
on  the  deck  could  not  imagine,  the  Indians  on  the 
bluff  leaped  thence  to  the  beach,  ran  to  the  other 
canoe,  shoved  off,  and,  using  the  oars  for  paddles, 
hurried  from  shore,  as  if  having  less  fear  of  Dr. 
Gordon  and  his  guns  than  of  some  object  of  terror 
behind. 

To  those  who  approached  from  Fish  Point,  the 
two  boats  shoving  off  simultaneously  from  the  live- 
oak  spring,  must  have  appeared  as  if  engaged  in  ^ 
race  for  the  vessel,  for  on  seeing  them  thus  en- 
gaged, the  new-comers'  raised  a  yell,  and  pulled 
more  vigorously  than  ever  toward  the  prize. 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  469 

When  the  assailing  canoes  came  within  ordinary 
musket  range,  Mrs.  Mcintosh  urged  Robert  to 
shoot ;  but  he  answered  with  surprising  coolness, — 

"  No,  aunt ;  they  think  there's  nobody  aboard 
but  women  and  children,  and  I  do  not  wish  them 
to  know  better  until  they  are  near  enough  for  nje 
to  be  sure  of  one  or  two  in  each  boat.  I  think 
you  and  Mary  can  manage  all  that  will  try  to 
get  on  deck." 

The  savages,  secure  of  their  prey,  came  on  with 
whoop  and  yell  until  their  high  cheek-bones  and 
the  stripes  of  pdint  upon  their  cheeks  could  be 
distinctly  seen.  Then  a  cloud  of  smoke  was  pro- 
jected from  the  larboard  bow  of  the  little  vessel. 
Robert  had  discharged  his  musket  with  deadly  aim 
at  the  foremost  canoe,  and  without  waiting  for  the 
smoke  to  clear  away,  was  hurrying  to  the  other 
bow  to  repeat  his  shot,  when  he  heard  the  sound 
of  a  musket  just  over  his  head.  His  aunt,  un- 
known to  him,  had  rested  her  piece  for  support  on 
the  gunwale,  and  had  pulled  trigger  as  soon  as  she 
heard  the  click  of  his  gunlock. 

When  the  smoke  rose  sufficiently  for  them  to 
see,  the  two  canoes  were  pausing  side  by  side  in 
noisy  conference,  each  containing  one  dead  man. 
That  pause  was  fatal  to  another  of  their  number, 
leaving  but  two  in  one  boat  and  one  in  the  other. 

"  Spare  them  now,  Robert,"  cried  Mrs.  Mcin- 
tosh, "  they  are  turning  away  as  fast  as  they  can." 


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470  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

"  Yes,  aunt!"  said  Robert,  snatching  up  another 
musket,  and  running  to  the  vessel's  side,  '*  I'Jl 
spare  them  all  as  soon  as  they  get  beyond  the  reach 
of  shot,''  and  with  that  he  aimed  at  the  hindmost 
canoe,  having  but  one  man,  and  the  next  moment 
it  was  floating  quietly  on  the  tide,  without  any 
one  to  proi>el  or  control  it.  The  other  boat  moved 
through  the  water  as  seldom  a  boat  has  moved, 
driven  only  by  two  paddlers,  yet  it  went  not  fast 
enough  to  outgo  the  bullets.  Robert's  aim,  how- 
ever, was  not  so  precise  as  before,  or  else  his  guns 
were  not  so  true,  for  his  first  ball  struck  the  water 
beyond  the  boat,  and  his  second  shattered  the  pad- 
dle of  one  of  the  men,  who  was  a  negro ;  upon 
which  the  frightened  wretch  dropped  the  useless 
fragments,  and  raised  his  hands  toward  the  vessel 
in  supplicating  attitude. 

"  I  cannot  resist  that,"  said  Robert ;  "  it  is  a  cry 
for  quarter ;  and,  moreover,  the  man  is  a  negro." 


y  Google 


CHAPTER   XXX  riL 

HAROLD'S  BREASTPLATE  —  TIGERT AIL— SHOT  IN 
THE  HEAD  —  DEATH-WOUND  FROM  A  BUTTON— 
LAST  OF  YAHA-LUSTY—  WILDCATS  GOOD  FOR- 
TUNE —  MAHINLO  AND  HIS  PRAYERS— INDIAN 
BURIALS  —  CHINNOBEE  —  RETURN  TO  TAMPA  — 
CONCLUSION 

]OW  were  you  hurt,  Harold?"  Mrs. 
Mcintosh  anxiously  inquired,  the  mo- 
ment the  canoe  came  alongside. 
"  Not  hurt  at  all,  dear  mother,"  he  re- 
plied. "  I  was  only  knocked  down.  A  riJSe-ball 
hit  something  in  my  side-pocket,  and  stopped 
there.     I  am  as  well  now  as  ever." 

The  quick  eyes  of  the  mother  detected,  as  he 
spoke,  a  small  hole  in  the  bosom  of  his  deerskin 
tunic,  and  he  was  no  sooner  on  deck,  and  wel- 
comed, than  she  thrust  her  hand  into  his  side- 
pocket,  and  drew  thence  his  beautiful  little  Testa- 
ment pierced  and  ruined  by  a  rifle-ball. 

The  warm  congratulations  between  the  parties 
on   board   and   the  parties  from  shore,  had  not 

471 


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472  MAROONER'S   ISLAND. 

ceased^  ere  Mrs.  Gordon  called  her  hosband's  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  the  Indians  on  the  bluff 
were  beckoning  to  them. 

"  Will  you  trust  yourself  to  them,  after  all  this 
hostility  ?^'  she  inquired. 

"  They  have  not  been  hostile,"  was  his  reply. 
"  They  have  fought  for  us  and  saved  our  lives. 
Surely  they  may  be  trusted." 

"  Be  careful  what  you  do,  brother,"  added  Mrs. 
Mcintosh,  in  a  warning  tone.  ^'  Remember  how 
treacherous  most  Indians  are.  How  do  you  know 
that  this  party  have  not  fought  the  other  only  to 
possess  themselves  of  you  and  your  vessel?" 

"I  admire  your  prudence,"  responded  her 
brother,  "  and  certainly  shall  not  trust  myself  in 
their  hands  without  first  knowing  who  they  are." 

He  took  the  spy-glass,  directed  it  ashore,  and 
instantly  his  face  lighted  up  with  pleasure. 

"  No  fear  of  them/^  said  he.  "  I  recognize  Tor- 
gah,  Somassee,  Riley,  and,  I  think,  Chinnobee  and 
his  son,  Moheta.  Besides,  there  are  several  stran- 
gers, of  whom  one  is  an  old  man,  singularly  at- 
tired, and  another  is  a  negro,  the  image  of  our 
poor  Sam,  having  his  face  all  streaming  with 
blood!" 

He  handed  the  glass  to  Wildcat,  who  joyfully 
exclaimed,  "  Mahinlo  I  and  my  uncle  Tiger-tail  V^ 

"  We'll  go  ashore,  boys,  and  thank  our  deliver- 
ers," said  Dr.  Gordon.   Then  turning  to  his  sister 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  473 

and  to  Mary,  he  added,  "  As  little  as  we  can  do  af- 
ter all  they  have  done  for  us,  will  be  to  invite  them 
aboard  and  give  them  something  to  eat.  No  doubt 
they  are  hungry  by  this  time,  or  soon  will  be. 
Provide  the  best  Indian  dinner  you  can  ;  and  re- 
member it  has  been  said  by  a  very  wise  man,  ^  the 
shortest  way  to  most  people's  hearts  is  down  their 
throats:  " 

"  If  we  are  to  get  them  aboard,  we  must  have 
another  boat.  Suppose  we  catch  that  one  floating 
out  there,"  suggested  Robert,  pointing  to  the  ca- 
noe freighted  with  dead  men. 

His  father  consented.  The  boys  went,  captured 
the  drifting  canoe,  with  its  cargo  of  Indians,  one 
of  whom  still  showed  signs  of  life,  and  then  re- 
turned to  the  vessel,  saying,  with  great  pleasure, — 

"  We  have  made  another  important  discovery. 
Our  Bellevue  boat  lies  moored  at  Fish  Point." 

Dr.  Gordon's  eyes  brightened  too,  and  he  re- 
plied, '*  We  will  first  go  ashore,  as  in  duty  bound. 
Then,  as  soon  after  as  you  please,  you  may  go  and 
bring  back  our  boat." 

They  pulled  quickly  to  land,  towing  the  cap- 
tured canoe  by  its  painter  of  twisted  deerskin, 
Torgah  met  them  at  the  water's  edge,  and  joyful 
was  the  greeting  between  him  and  his  young  friend 
Harold.  The  same  was  true  of  Tiger-tail  and 
Wildcat.  Riley  and  Somassee,  also,  came  to  meet 
them  ;  and  so  did  the  bloody-faced  negro.     The 


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474  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

others  remained  on  the  bluff  above,  with   Ma-, 
hinlo. 

To  the  surprise,  as  well  as  delight,  of  all  in  the 
boat,  the  negro  proved  to  be  Sam  himself,  "  Come 
to  life,''  he  said,  "  only  to  tell  them  Huddie  and 
Goodby,"  for  he  was  shot  clean  through  the  head 
and  was  bound  to  die.  They  were  exceedingly 
sorry  to  see  the  poor  fellow  mortally  wounded,  as 
he  appeared  to  be,  for  the  ball  had  entered  the 
forehead,  and  was  plainly  to  be  felt  under  the 
scalp,  at  the  back  part  of  the  head.  But  they 
were  astonished  that  a  person  shot  thus,  squarely 
through  the  brain,  had  not  died  at  once.  During 
their  stay  upon  the  beach,  Sam  several  times  bade 
them  farewell,  saying  that  his  time  had  come,  and 
leaving  divers  messages  for  his  wife  and  children 
in  Georgia.  But  somehow  death  delayed  to  carry 
off  its  victim,  and  Dr.  Gordon  suspecting,  at  last, 
the  truth,  made  a  surgical  examination,  and  ascer- 
tained that  the  ball  had  struck  the  frontal  bone, 
which  in  some  skulls  is  very  thick  and  hard,  and 
had  glanced  around  the  head,  between  scalp  and 
skull,  without  penetrating  the  brain.  After  this 
discovery,  Sam's  only  complaint  was  of  a  little 
headache,  and  before  many  days*  he  was  as  well  as 
ever. 

Passing  up  the  bluff  from  the  beach.  Dr.  Gor- 
don's first  attentions  were  shown  to  Mahinlo,  who 
was,  beyond  comparison,  the  principal  personage 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  475 

of  the  group.  It  was  observed,  by  the  keen-eyed 
lookers-on,  that  they  approached  each  other  with 
measured,  stately  step,  as  if  there  were  a  meaning 
in  their  motion,  and  when  their  hands  met  and 
grasped  there  was  a  kindling  of  the  eye. 

"  My  brother,  Mahinlo  V^  said  Dr.  Gordon,  with 
great  animation,  "  I  come  to  thank  you  for  my 
life,  and  for  the  lives  of  my  people.'' 

"  Mahinlo  only  did  his  duty,''  the  other  replied, 
still  continuing  the  grasp  and  looking  Dr.  Gordon 
in  the  eye. 

'fGlad  to  see  you!  glad  to  know  you!"  Dr. 
Gordon  said  ;  then  turning  to  the  others  he  asked, 
*^  Are  any  of  these  brothers,  too  ?  " 

"  All  brothers,  for  my  sake,"  he  replied. 

On  a  motion  of  his  hand  the  others  approached, 
and  exchanged  greetings  too  ;  but  it  was  observed 
that,  however  cordial  these  were,  they  seemed  to 
lack  the  charm  which  had  animated  the  meeting 
of  the  first. 

"  Glad  to  see  Chinnobee,  too !  How  came  he 
here  ?  "  said  Dr.  Gordon  to  his  former  patieni. 

"  Chinnobee  come  to  pay  debt  to  Medicine-man," 
he  answered  with  a  smile. 

"  More  than  paid  it  now,"  Dr.  Gordon  re- 
sponded. "  Medicine-man  now  in  debt  to  Chin- 
nobee." 

And  thus  he  passed  from  one  to  another,  having 
a  pleasant  word  to  say,  appropriate  to  each,  until 


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476  MAROOXER'S  ISLAND. 

having  completed  the  round,  he  came  again  to 
Mahinlo,  whose  face  he  observed  to  be  overspread 
with  a  deadly  pallor,  while  in  his  garments  there 
was  the  evidence  of  blood  fix)m  the  coat  to  the 
moccasin. 
"Mahinlo  is  hurt,"  said  he;  "tell  me  where?" 
The  old  man  pointed  to  his  neck,  saying  as  he 
did  so, — "Not  much,"  but  at  the  same  time  he 
reeled  and  sank  to  the  earth. 

Dr.  Gordon  instantly  opened  the  clothing  and 
discovered,  under  cover  of  the  tunic,  or  hunting- 
shirt,  as  it  is  called  by  our  western  hunters,  a 
wound  in  the  neck,  caused  evidently  by  a  canister- 
shot.  The  wound  itself  was  very  slight,  scarcely 
penetrating  below  the  skin ;  but  what  perplexed 
and  alarmed  Dr.  Gordon  was  the  fact  that  most 
of  the  blood  which  issued  was  of  a  light-red  color, 
and  came  in  jets  or  pulsations,  showing  that  an 
artery  had  been  cut.  Yet  what  artery  could  it  be? 
He  knew  of  none  in  the  neighborhood  capable  of 
supplying  such  a  flow,  except  that  jrhich  conveys 
the  blood  from  the  heart  to  the  brain,  known  as 
the  carotid ;  yet  that  lay  too  deep  to  be  reached  by 
a  skin-wound,  and,  moreover,  is  so  large  that  a 
wound  in  it  ought  usually  to  result  in  death  in 
three  or  four  minutes.  The  mystery,  however, 
was  soon  explained.  A  large  button  of  amethyst, 
on  the  neck  of  the  prophet's  robe,  had  been  shat- 
tered by  the  shot,  and  a  sharp  fragment  had  been 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  477 

driven  with  force  sufficient  to  puncture  this  im- 
portant vessel. 

"  I  very  much  fear,"  said  he  to  Robert,  who 
assisted  in  the  examination,  "that  the  hours  of 
good  Mahinlo  are  numbered.  The  result  may  be 
delayed,  but  cannot  be  averted.'^ 

Ascertaining  by  experiment  where,  and  how,  a 
pressure  upon  the  bleeding  orifice  was  most  effec- 
tive in  reducing  the  hemorrhage,  and  pouring  cold 
water  plentifully  upon  the  bleeding  part,  it  was  not 
long  before  Mahinlo  opened  his  eyes,  and  seemed 
surprised  to  find  himself  lying  on  the  ground. 

"  My  brother  is  badly  hurt,"  said  Dr.  Gordon, 
taking  him  by  the  hand. 

"  Mahinlo  will  soon  be  with  his  fathers,"  he 
languidly  replied. 

"  I  can  tie  that  bleeding  artery,  and  add  many 
hours,  even  days,  to  your  life.  Shall  I  do  it?" 
Dr.  Gordon  asked. 

"  Mahinlo  old.  Time  he  lie  down,"  replied  the 
venerable  man.     "  Bury  me  by  my  father." 

In  the  meantime,  Riley,  who  had  made  a  visit 
to  the  waterside,  and  had  discovered  that  the  cap- 
tured canoe  was  his  own,  lost  some  months  before, 
came  now  to  announce  that  the  Indian  in  it,  giving 
signs  of  life,  was  no  other  than  Yaha-Lusty,  who, 
on  learning  that  Mahinlo  was  on  shore,  begged 
earnestly  fo  see  him  before  he  died. 

The  old  prophet  at  once  made,  an  effort  to  rise, 


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478  MAROONER'S  ISLAXD. 

and  being  supported  by  a  friend  on  each  side, 
walked  down  the  bluff,  where  Yaha-Lusty  awaited 
him  in  the  canoe  drawn  up  on  the  beach.  Here 
Dr.  Gordon  examined  the  nature  of  his  wounds, 
and  declared  that  he  would  scarcely  survive  an 
hour.  The  conversation  that  ensued  was  conducted 
in  the  Indian  language,  but  was  afterward  re- 
ported in  English,  to  the  following  effect,  — 

Yaha-Lusty  professed  great  penitence  for  having 
rebelled  against  Mahinlo.  He  said  that  he  had 
been  deceived  by  Yobly,  (or  Gullah-Jim,  as  he  was 
called,)  a  negro,  who  boasted  great  powers  of 
witchcraft,  and  who,  upon  hearing  of  the  rich 
prize  to  be  expected  in  the  capture  of  the  pilot 
boat,  had  promised  Yaha-Lusty  and  his  men  per- 
fect success,  if  they  would  place  themselves  under 
his  guidance  and  command.  He  spoke  very  con- 
temptuously of  Mahinlo  and  his  powers  of  en- 
chantment, saying  that  the  Gullah  negroes  excelled 
all  the  world  in  witchcraft,  and  that  he  was  great- 
est among  the  Gullahs.  But  Yobly  was  now  to 
be  seen  from  the  canoe,  lying  dead  upon  the  bluff. 
This  proved  him  to  be  a  deceiver ;  and  Yaha- 
Lusty,  convinced  of  his  error,  herewith  returned 
to  his  allegiance. 

"  You  know,"  said  he,  addressing  the  red-men 
around,  "  that  my  people  owned  all  this  coast,  and 
that  I  am  the  last  of  my  people.  I  have  no  child 
nor  kinsman.     The  last  blood  of  the  Caloosas  is 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  479 

growing  cold  in  my  veins.  Now  hear,  all  of  you ! 
I  give  to  Mahinlo  all  that  is  mine,  to  be  his  for- 
ever, especiall}^this  island.     Do  yoa  hear  ?  ^' 

They  answered,  "  Yes,  we  hear.  You  give  to 
Mahinlo  all  that  is  yours,  especially  this  island." 

The  strength  of  the  dying  man,  which  seemed 
to  have  been  unnaturally  aroused  to  perform  this 
act,  here  gave  way,  and  he  fell  back  in  a  swoon. 

Then  Mahinlo,  addressing  the  same  company, 
said,  — 

"  Hear,  all  of  you !  This  island  is  mine.  Bury 
me  here  by  the  side  of  my  father.  A  grave  is  all 
I  want.  The  remainder,  I  give  to  my  young  friend. 
Wildcat,  if  he  will  promise,  before  you  all,  to  see 
me  buried,  and  to  watch  over  my  grave.  Hear,  all 
of  you,  what  Wildcat  says." 

The  weeping  boy,  thus  suddenly  and  singularly 
distinguished,  fell  at  the  feet  of  his  benefactor,  and 
grasping  his  knees,  said,  — 

"  Mahinlo  is  my  father ;  I  will  be  his  son  for- 
ever." 

The  old  prophet  was  deeply  moved.  He  had 
long  and  tenderly  loved  the  boy.  He  wished  now 
to  do  for  him  the  best  he  could.  But  what  could 
he  do  during  the  few  hours  of  life  remaining  ? 
Turning  to  Dr.  Gordon,  and  speaking  in  English, 
with  his  hand  still  resting  on  Wildcat's  head,  he 
said  with  emphasis,  — 

*'  My  brother  !   I  give  this  boy  to  you  to  teach 


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480  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

for  me.  Teach  him  as  Mahinlo's  son.  Teach  him 
about  the  Great  Spirit.  Teach  him  to  be  a  good 
man.     Does  my  brother  hear?'' 

"I  do/'  replied  the  Doctor,  drawing  a  long 
breath,  and  answering  slowly,  —  "I  take  Wildcat 
under  my  care,  from  this  day,  as  Mahinlo's  son; 
and  I  promise  to  teach  him,  to  the  f)est  of  my 
ability,  all  that  is  needful  for  his  happiness  in  this 
life,  and  for  his  happiness  in  the  life  to  cotne.  Is 
my  brother  satisfied  ?  " 

"  That  is  enough,"  said  Mahinlo,  and  with  that 
he  placed  Wildcat's  right  hand  in  that  of  his  future 
guardian. 

Meanwhile,  Harold  had  beckoned  Robert  aside, 
and  they  had  gone  together  to  Fish  Point,  and 
brought  around  the  Bellevue  boat,  just  in  time  to 
witness  the  deed  of  gift  to  Wildcat,  and  now  the 
last  moments  of  Yaha-Lusty. 

Among  savages,  the  act  of  burial  is  usually  not 
long  delayed  —  sometimes,  not  long  enough  among 
the  civilized.  Scarcely  had  Yaha-Lusty 's  breath 
left  the  body,  ere  Tiger-tail  invited  the  other  red- 
men  to  unite  with  him  in  preparing  for  the  burial. 
Two  of  them  went  to  the  woods,  where  they  se- 
lected a  tree  of  suitable  size,  girdled  it  in  tw^o 
places,  six  feet  apart;  then  by  inserting  their 
knives  and  hatchets  at  an  incision  on  one  side, 
they  removed  the  bark  in  one  unbroken  piece.  In 
this  bark-coffin  they  enclosed  the  body,  and  buried 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  481 

it  in  a  shallow  grave,  dug  in  the  soft  sand  of  the 
bluff.  The  other  dead  bodies  were  buried  with  it, 
but  without  a  coffin,  and  over  them  all  was  raised 
a  mound  of  earth. 

While  this  was  in  progress.  Dr.  Gordon  begged 
Mahinlo  to  take  up  his  abode  on  the  pilot  boat, 
where  the  friends  whose  lives  he  had  saved  might 
nurse  him.  To  which  he  replied,  that  his  hpurs 
were  few,  and  that  he  wished  to  be  carried  at  once 
to  the  prairie,  where  he  might  die  by  the  grave  of 
his  father. 

Dr.  Gordon  then  called  Wildcat  and  Tiger-tail, 
and  assigned  to  them  the  duty  of  transporting  the 
dying  prophet  to  the  place  selected,  while  he  pre- 
pared to  join  them  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 
After  they  left,  he  invited  the  others  to  the  vessel  to 
obtain  something  to  eat,  and  to  aid  him  in  com- 
pleting the  almost  finished  work  on  the  mast  and 
rigging.  Both  these  were  speedily  dispatched,  and 
then,  taking  in  their  supply  of  water  from  the 
spring,  they  sailed,  by  a  light  breeze,  up  the 
north  river  and  down  the  east,  to  the  prairie 
landing,  which  they  reached  a  little  past  the  mid- 
dle of  the  afternoon.  The  ladies  remained  aboard, 
but  the  tent  was  taken  ashore  and  pitclied  upon 
the  same  spot  from  which  it  had  been  so  recently 
removed.  Efforts  were  made  to  persuade  Mahinlo 
to  occupy  it ;  but  he  preferred  the  more  familiar 

shelter  of  a  palmetto  tent  erected  near  the  ruinous 
2F 


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482  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

house,  and  the  other  red-men  provided  themselva 
similar  accommodation  close  in  his  neighborhood. 

Dr.  Gordon  was  grieved  at  the  thought  of  los- 
ing the  remarkable  old  man,  Mahinlo,  just  as  he 
had  made  his  acquaintance,  and  his  distress  was 
painfully  aggravated  by  the  conviction  that  the 
fatal  wound  had  been  caused  by  a  shot  from  the 
vessel.  This  fact  he  carefully  kept  from  his 
sister,  and  gladly  would  he  have  kept  it  irom 
Robert,  too,  but,  unfortunately,  Robert  was  pre- 
sent during  the  examination  of  the  wound,  and  he 
was  too  intelligent  not  to  surmise  its  character  and 
history.  Poor  fellow!  his  frequently  starting 
tears  and  choking  voice  attested  the  depth  of  his 
sorrow.  Mahinlo,  perceiving  this,  took  occasion 
to  say  to  Dr.  Gordon,  in  his  hearing,  — 

"  Did  not  mean  to  hurt  me.  Did  not  know  I 
was  in  the  tree.'^  Then  fixing  his  eye  full  upon 
Robertas,  he  added:  "Good  Spirit  send  that  hall. 
You  could  not  help  it.     My  time  come.*' 

The  degree  of  refinement  and  of  religious  senti- 
ment displayed  in  this  remark  was  far  beyond  the 
ordinary  attainment  of  Indians,  and  Dr.  Gordon 
was  so  much  gratified  with  it  that  he  felt  encour- 
aged to  make  further  inquiry. 

"  May  I  talk  like  a  brother?**  he  asked. 

"  Yes  !  **  the  other  replied,  with  emphasis. 

"I  hear  that  Mahinlo  loves  the  Great  Spirit, 
and  loves  to  pray.    Is  this  so  ?"  asked  Dr.  Gordon, 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  483 

^'  Yes !  yes ! ''  he  replied  as  before. 

"  May  I  ask  what  are  the  prayers  that  Mahinlo 
loves  most  to  offer  ?" 

"Our  Father  who  in  heaven/'  said  the  old  man, 
looking  upward ;  then,  with  emotion,  "  And — ^and, 
Be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner." 

Dr.  Gordon  was  strongly  moved.  Accustomed 
to  look  below  the  surface  of  words  and  actions  for 
their  real  origin,  he  said  to  himself,  in  rapid 
thought,  "Is  Mahinlo  a  heathen?  for  these  pray- 
ers are  eminently  Christian.  How  did  he  learn 
them?  May  he  not  be  like  Cornelius,  the  centu- 
rion,* taught  to  some  extent  both  by  God  and 
man,  and  only  waiting  to  know  the  way  of  life 
more  fully?     I  will  inquire, — 

"How  did  you  learn  these  prayers?''  he  asked. 

Mahinlo  informed  him  that  in  early  life  he  had 
lived  with  a  good  man,  who  had  taught  him  these 
things,  and  many  others  now  forgotten.  Also, 
that  a  few  years  since  he  had  become  attached  to 
William  Morgan,  the  father  of  Wildcat,  and  had 
been  much  with  him  during  the  protracted  illness 
of  which  he  died,  and  that  Morgan  often  used 
,  these  prayers,  and  talked  with  him  and  others 
about  what  his  pious  mother  had  taught  him  in 
childhood. 

"These  prayers  are   from  the  Bible, — God's 
book,  that  teaches  us  all  we  know  of  him,  and  of 
*Acts  of  the  Apostles,  tenth  chapter. 


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484  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

our  duty  to   him,"  said  Dr.  Gordon.      "  Would 
you  like  to  hear  more  from  that  book  ?^' 

"  Glad  1  glad  !"  the  old  man  replied. 

"  The  Bible  teaches  a  great  deal  of  what  we  are 
to  believe  and  of  what  we  are  to  do/'  Dr.  Gordon 
went  on  to  say.  "  But  of  all  this,  I  can  tell  you 
very  little. 

"  Of  what  we  are  to  believe^  it  teaches :  That  all 
men  are  sinners  ;  that  the  Son  of  God,  known  as 
Jesus  Christ,  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners; 
and  that  all  sinners  who  believe  in  him  shall  be 
saved.  This  is  what  we  believe  when  we  offer  the 
prayer,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner. 

"  Then  as  to  what  we  are  to  do,  it  teaches :  That 
God  is  Love ;  that  his  love  for  us  exceeds  that  of 
father  or  mother ;  and  that,  as  he  has  so  loved  us, 
we  ought  to  love  him,  and  to  love  one  another, 
and  to  do  the  works  suitable  to  such  a  love.  This 
is  what  we  believe  when  we  come  to  him  with 
the  prayer,  Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven.^* 

Mahinlo  listened  with  profound  attention,  drink- 
ing in  every  word,  then  said,  — 

"  Say  again." 

Dr.  Gordon  repeated,  with  some  explanations, 
what  had  just  then  been  declared,  then  opened  his 
Bible  to  the  third  chapter  of  John,  in  which  Jesus 
Christ  instructs  the  inquiring  Nicodemus.  Ma- 
hinlo was  deeply  interested.  He  listened  without 
remark  or  inquiry  until  Dr.  Gordon  came  to  the 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  485 

passage,  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life,^  when  he 
asked, — 

"What  this  mean?'' 

Dr.  Gordon  explained  as  well  as  he  could,  and 
was  going  on  with  the  next  verse,  when  Mahinlo 
interrupted  him  with, — 

"  Read  that  more," 

He  read  it  again,  and  was  going  on,  when  Ma- 
hinlo repeated  his  request,  "  Read  that  more,"  and 
on  its  being  read  the  third  time,  he  said,  — 
•  "  Stop  now !  Let  me  say.  God  so  love,  — give 
his  Son, — believe  on  him, — have  everlasting  life. 
Shut  up  book.     That  enough  for  Mahinlo." 

Late  in  the  evening,  Dr.  Gordon  repeated  his 
visit.  His  patient  lay  peacefully  still,  and  replied 
to  all  inquiries,  that  he  needed  nothing  more.  The 
light-red  blood  continued  to  jet  in  tiny  pulsations 
from  the  wound,  and  the  pulse  was  hourly  becoming 
weaker ;  still  his  strength  was  such  as  to  warrant 
the  hope  that  his  life  would  be  prolonged  through 
the  night,  and  perhaps  far  into  the  coming  day. 

Leaving  him  now  in  the  hands  of  the  two  faith- 
ful watchers.  Dr.  Gordon  wished  him  "  Good  night 
and  God  bless  you!"  Mahinlo  turned  quickly 
upon  his  side,  seized  the  Doctor's  hand,  and,  with 
a  significant  pressure,  said  to  him, — 

"**  Remember  my  boy !  Teach  him  what  you 
teach  me,  and  more  I  ^^ 


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486  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

Early  next  morning,  the  Doctor  called  again. 
Tiger-tail  and  Wildcat  were  at  their  post,  and  Ma- 
hinlo  lay  quietly  upon  the  ship-mattress  that  had 
been  spread  for  him.  He  had  spent  a  very  com- 
fortable night,  the  nurses  said,  and  had  not  for 
hours  uttered  a  word,  until  just  before  daylight, 
when  he  folded  his  hands  together  and  said,  as  if 
half  dreaming,  ^*  God  80  love."  The  hands  were 
still  folded,  and  the  old  man  seemed  to  be  asleep, 
l)ut  when  Dr.  Gordon  came  to  examine  the  pulse, 
he  found  that  it  had  ceased  to  beat,  and  that  the 
body  was  becoming  stiff  in  death. 

The  announcement  of  this  fact  soon  brought  • 
together  all  persons  on  the  island.  Tiger-tail,  as 
highest  in  rank  of  the  red -men,  and  Wildcat,  as 
son,  by  adoption,  of  the  deceased  prophet,  assumed 
control  of  the  preparations  made,  though  all  that 
was  resolved  upon  was,  by  courtesy,  first  referred 
to  Dr.  Gordon.  A  substantial  coffin  was  pre- 
pared of  the  best  materials  within  reach,  and  lined 
by  the  hands  of  the  ladies,  with  a  white  linen 
sheet,  and  a  neat  grave  was  dug  so  close  beside 
^al  of  the  prophet's  father,  that  the  muzzle  of 
what  had  once  been  a  superb  rifle,  and  the  bowl 
of  a  costly  tobacco-pipe  were  visible  at  the  crumb- 
ling side.  But  the  burial  was  postponed  to  the 
middle  of  the  next  day,  to  give  opportunity  for 
the  attendance  of  persons  upon  the  main,  and 
Tiger-tail,  with   his  companion,  went  each    in   a 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  487 

canoe,  to  give  information  at  the  prophet's  recent 
home,  and  to  invite  his  friends  and  retainers  to 
the  funeral. 

At  the  appointed  hour  next  day,  quite  a  respect- 
able number  assembled  around  the  grave.  The 
funeral  services  were  conducted  by  Dr.  Gordon, 
who  took  occasion  to  speak  of  Mahinlo's  well- 
known  love  for  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  who  per- 
suaded the  attendants,  in  respect  to  the  prophet,  to 
unite  with  him  in  repeating  it  aloud,  as  a  part  of 
the  burial  service.  He  did  not  feel  authorized  to 
announce  Mahinlo's  conversion  to  the  Christian 
faith,  and  his  earnest  commendation  of  it,  during 
the  night,  to  those  who  were  in  attendance ;  but 
he  said  that  Mahinlo  was  his  brother,  dearly  be- 
loved, and  that  he  hoped  to  meet  him  in  the  country 
of  the  Great  Spirit. 

After  the  services.  Tiger-tail  detained  the  com- 
pany to  proclaim  that  Yaha-Lusty,  in  dying,  had 
formally  bequeathed  all  his  possessions,  and  espe- 
cially this  island,  to  Mahinlo ;  and  that  Mahinlo, 
who  had  no  children  nor  kinsmen,  had,  in  like 
manner,  bequeathed  his  possessions  to  Wildcat, 
whom  he  had  named  his  son.  Therefore,  that,  in 
behalf  of  Yaha-Lusty  first  and  of  Mahinlo  next, 
(to  both  of  whom  he  had  fallen  heir,)  Wildcat  was 
owner  of  this  island,  and  was  by  right  Tustenug- 
gee,  or  Chief,  of  the  Caloosa  territory. 

Late  in  the  day  the  persons  in  attendance  from 


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488  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

the  main  returned  home.  Chinnobee,  also,  and 
his  sons,  were  about  to  go,  but  Dr.  Gordon  re- 
quested them  to  remain  till  the  next  day,  saying 
he  had  a  word  for  them.  They  did  so,  and  early 
the  next  morning  he  called  them  all  together  to 
the  tent,  where  was  a  table  on  which  lay  a  number 
of  small  canvas  bags  that  appeared  to  be  full  of 
something  heavy. 

"  You  remember,  Chinnobee,"  said  he,  "  that  I 
begged  you  and  your  sons  to  look  for  my  lost 
children ;  and  I  promised  that  if  you  brought  them 
to  me,  safe  and  sound,  I  would  give  you  your  hat 
full  of  silver.  Now  you  may  say  that  you  did  not 
find  them,  and  are  not  entitled  to  the  reward ;  but 
you,  and  these  other  friends  here,  have  saved  them 
a  second  time,  when  if  it  had  not  been  for  you  and 
dear  old  Mahinlo,  we  should  all  have  been  mur- 
dered. Here  are  some  bags  —  they  are  full  of 
silver  dollars.  Come,  each  of  you  in  turn,  ac- 
cording to  rank.  Tiger-tail  first,  Chinnobee  next, 
then  the  others  as  Tiger-tail  and  Chinnobee  shall 
appoint,  and  take  one  of  these  bags.  The  Medi- 
cine-man thanks  you  for  your  help." 

At  this  invitation,  all  except  Torgah  and  Wild- 
cat came  promptly  forward  and  took  the  profiered 
bags,  delighted  with  the  unexpected  munificence. 

Dr.  Gordon  looked  at  these  two  with  a  smile, 
and  said,  — 

"  What !  is  this  not  enough  ?" 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND.  489 

To  this,  Torgah  returned  not  a  word ;  but 
Wildcat  replied,  with  rather  a  hurt  look,  — 

"  Did  not  come  here  for  money." 

"Well,  well,  I  can  see  you  both  some  other 
time,''  said  Dr.  Gordon ;  "  for  the  present,  I  will 
give  Wildcat's  portion  to  his  uncle  Tiger-tail,  and 
Torgah's  to  Eiley,  who  has  already  suffered  so 
much  in  my  service." 

This  disposal  of  the  surplus  seemed  to  be  per- 
fectly satisfactory  to  all  parties,  and  they  separated 
from  the  tent  in  fine  humor  with  each  other,  with 
Dr.  Gordon,  and  with  themselves.  Chinnobee 
and  his  sons  embarked  within  an  hour  for  the 
main.  Tiger-tail  and  his  companion  remained  with 
Wildcat  to  repair  the  ruinous  lodge,  and  to  con- 
struct a  better  enclosure  around  the  graves. 

The  sojourn  of  the  Marooning  party  had  now 
reached  its  close.  Nothing  remained  to  detain 
them.  The  Sea-Bird  lay  with  folded  wing  at  the 
waterside,  swaying  hither  and  thither  with  tlie 
tide,  waiting  their  command  to  bear  them  all  to 
Tampa.  But  the  Marooners  were  in  no  haste  to 
embark.  Many  a  farewell  was  to  be  taken  after 
every  preparation  had  been  made  for  departure. 
Mary  must  drink  once  more  from  her  beautiful 
spring,  and  carry  with  her  a  bottle  of  its  water  as 
a  remembrancer.  Frank  must  go  with  hook  and 
pole  to  the  orange-tree,  and  obtain  a  bag-full  of 
the  fruit  to  eat  on  the  way  and  for  a  i)resent  to 


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490  MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 

Maum  Judy  and  to  William.  As  for  Robert  and 
Harold,  they  originated  no  delays,  but  they  sym- 
pathized in  all  that  were  created,  and  did  nothing 
to  curtail  them. 

The  Sea-Bird  did  not  leave  her  anchorage  be- 
fore high  noon,  nor  until  after  Dr.  Gordon's  voice 
had  several  times  been  heard  calling  all  who  were 
bound  for  Tampa  to  come  aboard.  Wildcat  went 
with  them  to  the  northern  end  of  the  island,  where 
he  bade  them  adieu,  hoping  soon  to  rejoin  them 
at  Bellevue.  He  was  put  ashore  by  Riley,  whose 
boat  was  towed  astern. 

The  voyage  home  was  accomplished  without  ac- 
cident or  misfortune.  In  passing  Riley's  Island, 
they  sailed  close  in  shore,  and  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  Pancheta,  with  a  chubby  boy  at  her  side, 
coming  fast  to  meet  her  husband.  At  the  Bellevue 
landing,  they  had  scarcely  cast  anchor,  ere  the 
faithful  Judy  was  at  the  waterside,  with  arms 
stretched  out  to  receive  them ;  and  when  they  met, 
she  threw  her  arms  around  Mary  and  Frank  in  an 
ecstacy  of  joy,  saying,  — 

"  Huddie !  huddie !  a  tousan'  huddie  to  my 
dear  little  missis  and  mossa  ! " 

Then  grasping  a  hand  of  Robert  and  Harold  in 
each  of  hers,  she  said,  — 

"  A  tousan  tankie  to  de  good  Lord,  too,  fuh 
bring  you  all  safe  home.  Mossa  ! "  said  she,  turn- 
ing with  energy  to  Dr.  Gordon,  "  enty  I  bin  tell 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND,  491 

you  all  aloDg  de  Lord  nebber  gwine  trow'  way  his 
own?"  * 

After  passing  from  one  to  another,  and  welcom- 
ing Sam,  her  brother-in-law,  she  looked  as  if  for 
some  one  else  who  was  slow  to  appear.  No  one 
spoke.  All  were  desirous  to  keep  from  her  as 
long  as  possible  the  knowledge  of  her  bereave- 
ment. But  Sam's  tell-tale  face  was  too  evpressive 
of  the  truth,  and  poor  Judy  went  back  to  the 
house  a  widow. 

Poor  Judy,  in  truth  !  All  sympathized  with  her, 
and  all  were  ready  to  do  for  her  what  they  could. 
But  there  are  some  sorrows  which  can  only  be  let 
alone;  and  this  was  one  of  them.  Frank's  or- 
anges, and  the  others'  words  of  kindness,  served 
somewhat  to  alleviate,  but  the  sorrow  was  long 
there. 

Soon  as  he  could  be  spared,  Torgah  was  dis- 
pat<5hed  to  Fort  Brooke,  with  a  note  to  Major 
Burke,  announcing  the  arrival ;  and  the  next  day 
not  only  the  Major  came  to  welcome  them,  and 
the  Surgeon  of  the  post,  but  also  Tomkins,  and 
Wheeler,  and  Jones,  and  Thompson,  and  Ma- 
gruder,  who  requested  the  privilege  of  manning 
the  boat. 

By  this  time  it  was  near  the  middle  of  March. 
The  weather  was  becoming  very  warm,  and  had  it 

*  Have  n*t  I  been  telling  you,  all  along,  that  the  Lord  is, 
never  going  to  throw  away  his  own. 


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492  MAROONER'S  ISLAND, 

not  been  for  the  breezes  from  sea  and  land^  alter- 
nating with  but  few  minutes'  interval,  early  in  the 
morning  and  late  in  the  evening,  the  heat  would 
have  been  oppressive.  Dr.  Gordon  began  to  think 
of  returning  to  his  home  in  Georgia.  Before 
leaving  Tampa,  however,  he  made  special  inquiries 
through  the  commandant  of  the  post,  concerning 
the  pirate  wreck,  and  ascertained  that  she  was  in- 
deed a  piratical  vessel  that  had  left  Vera  Cruz  the 
preceding  summer,  under  the  command  of  De 
Rosa,  and  after  committing  several  acts  of  depre- 
dation, had  suddenly  disappeared.  The  prize  be- 
ing thus  left  in  his  hands  without  a  legal  claimant, 
Dr.  Gordon  reserved  to  himself  enough  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  his  costly  Marooning  expedition, 
and  divided  the  remainder  among  the  young  peo- 
ple, giving  to  Harold  much  the  larger  share  as 
first  discoverer;  to  Wildcat  the  next  largest,  as 
Lord  of  the  Island ;  and  to  Robert,  and  Mary, 
and  Frank,  each  a  comfortable  portion.  These 
shares  he  converted,  in  due  time,  into  a  more 
available  form,  and  placed  them  in  the  care  of 
suitable  trustees. 

After  spending  together  at  Bellevue  a  few  pleas- 
ant weeks,  during  which  Mrs.  Gordon's  health 
was  perfectly  restored,  the  whole  company  returned 
by  pilot  boat  to  Mobile,  where  Dr.  Gordon  looked 
up  the  family  of  Dunbar,  to  whom  he  paid  all 
dues,  and  made  them,   in  addition,  a  handsome 


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MAROONER'S  ISLAND. 


493 


present.  Thence  they  went  to  Montgomery  to 
spend  a  short  time  with  Mrs.  Mcintosh ;  after 
which,  Dr.  Gordon  and  his  immediate  family  re- 
turned to  their  own  home,  thankful,  as  they  never 
before  had  been,  for  the  quiet  enjoyments  of  ordi- 
nary life. 


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